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HISTORICAL RECORDS 



BRITISH ARMY. 



PREPARED FOR PUBLICATION UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE 
ADJUTANT-GENERAL. 



THE FOURTH, 

OR 

ROYAL IRISH REGIMENT OF DRAGOON GUARDS. 










LONDON: 

Printed by Wh.liam Clowes and Sons. 

J 4, Charing Cross, 



GENERAL ORDERS. 



HORSE-GUARDS, 

\st January, 1836. 

His Majesty has been pleased to command, 
that, with a view of doing the fullest justice to Regi- 
ments, as well as to Individuals who have distin- 
guished themselves by their Bravery in Action with 
the Enemy, an Account of the Services of every Regi- 
ment in the British Army shall be published under 
the superintendence and direction of the Adjutant- 
General ; and that this Account shall contain the 
following particulars : viz., 

The Period and Circumstances of the Ori- 



ginal Formation of the Regiment; The Stations at 
which it has been from time to time employed; The 
Battles, Sieges, and other Military Operations, in 
which it has been engaged, particularly specifying 
any Achievement it may have performed, and the 
Colours, Trophies, &c., it may have captured from 
the Enemy. ^ 

The Names of the Officers and the number of 



Non-Commissioned Officers and Privates, Killed or 
Wounded by the Enemy, specifying the Place and 
Date of the Action. 



GENERAL ORDERS. 

The Names of those Officers, who, in con- 
sideration of their Gallant Services and Meritorious 
Conduct in Engagements with the Enemy, have been 
distinguished with Titles, Medals, or other Marks of 
His Majesty's gracious favour. 

The Names of all such Officers, Non-Com- 



missioned Officers and Privates as may have specially 
^naliz( 
And, 



signalized themselves in Action 



The Badges and Devices which the Regiment 

may have been permitted to bear_, and the Causes 
on account of which such Badges or Devices, or any 
other Marks of Distinction, have been granted. 

By Command of the Right Honourable 

GENERAL LORD HILL, 

Commanding-in- Chief. 



John Macdonald, 
Adjutant- General. 



PREFACE. 



The character and credit of the .British Army must chiefly 
depend upon the zeal and ardour, by which all who enter 
into its service are animated, and consequently it is of the 
highest importance that any measure calculated to excite the 
spirit of emulation, by which alone great and gallant actions 
are achieved, should be adopted. 

Nothing can more fully tend to the accomplishment of this 
desirable object, than a full display of the noble deeds with 
which the Military History of our country abounds. To hold 
forth these bright examples to the imitation of the youthful 
soldier, and thus to incite him to emulate the meritorious 
conduct of those who have preceded him in their honourable 
career, are among the motives that have given rise to the 
present pubHcation. 

The operations of the British Troops are, indeed, announced 
in the ' London Gazette,' from whence they are transferred 
into the public prints : the achievements of our armies are thus 
made known at the time of their occurrence, and receive the 
tribute of praise and admiration to which they are entitled. 
On extraordinary occasions, the Houses of Parliament have 
been in the habit of conferring on the Commanders, and the 



PREFACE. 

Officers and Troops acting under their orders, expressions of 
approbation and of thanks for their skill and bravery, and these 
testimonials, confirmed by the high honour of their Sovereign's 
Approbation, constitute the reward which the soldier most 
highly prizes. 

It has not, however, until late years, been the practice (which 
appears to have long prevailed in some of the Continental 
armies) for British Regiments to keep regular records of their 
services and achievements. Hence some difficulty has been 
experienced in obtaining, particularly from the old Regiments, 
an authentic account of their origin and subsequent services. 

This defect will now be remedied, in consequence of His 
Majesty having been pleased to command, that every Regiment 
shall in future keep a full and ample record of its services at 
home and abroad. 

From the materials thus collected, the country will hence- 
forth derive information as to the difficulties and privations 
which chequer the career of those who embrace the military 
profession. In Great Britain, where so large a number of 
persons are devoted to the active concerns of agriculture, 
manufactures, and commerce, and where these pursuits have, 
for so long a period, been undisturbed by the presence of war, 
which few other countries have escaped, comparatively little 
is known of the vicissitudes of active service, and of the 
casualties of climate, to which, even during peace, the British 
Troops are exposed in every part of the globe, with little or 
no interval of repose. 

In their tranquil enjoyment of the blessings which the 



PREFACE. 

country derives from the industry and the enterprise of the agri- 
culturist and the trader, its happy inhabitants may be supposed 
not often to reflect on the perilous duties of the soldier and 
the sailor, — on their sufferings, — and on the sacrifice of valu- 
able life, by which so many national benefits are obtained 
and preserved. 

The conduct of the British Troops, their valour, and endur- 
ance, have shone conspicuously under great and trying diffi- 
culties ; and their character has been established in Continental 
warfare by the irresistible spirit with which they have eiFected 
debarkations in spite of the most formidable opposition, and 
by the gallantry and steadiness with which they have main- 
tained their advantages against superior numbers. 

In the official Reports made by the respective Commanders, 
ample justice has generally been done to the gallant exertions 
of the Corps employed ; but the details of their services, and 
of acts of individual bravery, can only be fully given in the 
Annals of the various Regiments. 

These Records are now preparing for publication, under 
His Majesty's special authority, by Mr. Richard Cannon, 
Principal Clerk of the Adjutant-General's Office ; and while 
the perusal of them cannot fail to be useful and interesting to 
miUtary men of every rank, it is considered that they will also 
afford entertainment and information to the general reader, 
particularly to those who may have served in the Army, or 
who have relatives in the Service. 

There exists in the breasts of most of those who have served, 
or are serving, in the Army, an Esprit de Corps— ^an attach- 



PREFACE. 

ment to every thing belonging to their Regiment; to such 
persons a narrative of the services of their own Corps cannot 
fail to prove interesting. Authentic accounts of the actions 
of the great, — the valiant, — the loyal, have always been of 
paramount interest with a brave and civilised people. Great 
Britain has produced a race of heroes who, in moments of 
danger and terror, have stood, " firm as the rocks of theit 
native shore;" and when half the World has been arrayed 
against them, they have fought the battles of their Country 
with unshaken fortitude. It is presumed that a record of 
achievements in war, — victories so complete and surprising, 
gained by our countrymen, — our brothers — our fellow-citizens 
in arms, — a record which revives the memory of the brave, 
and brings their gallant deeds before us, will certainly prove 
acceptable to the public, 

Biographical memoirs of the Colonels and other distinguished 
Officers, will be introduced in the Records of their respective 
Regiments, and the Honorary Distinctions which have, from 
time to time, been conferred upon each Regiment, as testifying 
the value and importance of its services, will be faithfully 
set forth. 

As a convenient mode of Publication, the Record of each 
Regiment will be printed in a distinct number, so that when 
the whole shall be completed, the Parts may be bound up in 
numerical succession. 



INTRODUCTION. 



The ancient Armies of England were composed 
of Horse and Foot ; but the feudal troops esta- 
blished by William the Conqueror in 1086, con- 
sisted almost entirely of Horse. Under the feudal 
system, every holder of land amounting to what 
was termed a " knight's fee," was required to 
provide a charger, a coat of mail, a helmet, a 
shield, and a lance, and to serve the Crown a 
period of forty days in each year at his own 
expense ; and the great landholders had to pro- 
vide armed men in proportion to the extent of 
their estates ; consequently the ranks of the feudal 
Cavalry were completed with men of property, 
and the vassals and tenants of the great barons, 
who led their dependents to the field in person. 

In the succeeding reigns the Cavalry of the 
Army was composed of Knights (or men at arms) 
and Hobiliers (or horsemen of inferior degree) ; 
and the Infantry of spear and battle-axe men, 
cross-bowmen, and archers. The Knights wore 
ai-mour on every part of the body, and their 
weapons were a lance, a sword, and a small 
dagger. The Hobiliers were accoutred and armed 

b 



11 INTRODUCTION. 

for the light and less important services of war, 
and were not considered qualified for a charge in 
line. Mounted Archers* were also introduced, 
and the English nation eventually became pre- 
eminent in the use of the bow. 

About the time of Queen Mary the appellation 
of " Men at Arms'" was changed to that of " Spears 
and Launces.'' The introduction of fire-arms ulti- 
mately occasioned the lance to fall into disuse, 
and the title of the Horsemen of the first degree 
was changed to " Cuirassiers^ The Cuirassiers 
were armed cap-a-pie, and their weapons were a 
sword with a straight narrow blade and sharp 
point, and a pair of large pistols, called petrenels ; 
and the Hobiliers carried carbines. The Infantry 
carried pikes, matchlocks, and swords. The 
introduction of fire-arms occasioned the forma- 
tion of regiments armed and equipped as infantry, 
but mounted on small horses for the sake of 
expedition of movement, and these were styled 
''Dragoons;'' a small portion of the military 
force of the kingdom, however, consisted of this 
description of troops. 

The formation of the present Army commenced 

* In the 14th year of the reign of Edward IV. a small 
force was established in Ireland by Parliament, consisting of 
120 Archers on horseback, 40 Horsemen, and 40 Pages. 



INTRODUCTION. Ill 

after the Restoration in 1660, with the establish- 
ment of regular corps of Horse and Foot ; the 
Horsemen were cuirassiers, but only wore armour 
on the head and body ; and the Foot were pike- 
men and musketeers. The arms which each 
description of force carried, are described in the 
following extract from the " Regulations of King 
Charles II.," dated 5th May, 1663 :— 

" Each Horseman to have for his defensive 
" armes, back, breast, and pot ; and for his offen- 
" sive armes, a sword, and a case of pistolls, the 
" barrels whereof are not to be und^ foorteen 
" inches in length ; and each Trooper of Our 
" Guards to have a carbine, besides the aforesaid 
" armes. And the Foote to have each souldier a 
" sword, and each pikeman a pike of 16 foote 
" long and not und\ ; and each musqueteer a 
" musquet, with a collar of bandaliers, the barrels 
" of which musquet to be about foor foote long, 
" and to conteine a bullet, foorteen of which shall 
" weigh a pound weight *." 

The ranks of the Troops of Horse were at this 
period composed of men of some property — gene- 
rally the sons of substantial yeomen : the young 
men received as recruits provided their own horses, 

* Military Papers, State Paper Office. 

b2 



IV INTRODUCTION. 

and they were placed on a rate of pay sufficient 
to give them a respectable station in society. 

On the breaking out of the war with Holland, 
in the spring of 1672, a Regiment of Dragoons 
Avas raised*; the Dragoons were placed on a lower 
rate of pay than the Horse; and the Regiment 
was armed similar to the Infantry, excepting that 
a limited number of the men carried halberds 
instead of pikes, and the others muskets and bay- 
onets ; and a few men in each Troop had pistols ; 
as appears by a warrant dated the 2nd of April, 
1672, of which the following is an extract : — 

" Charles R. 

" Our will and pleasure is, that a Regi- 
" ment of Dragoones which we have established 
" and ordered to be raised, in twelve Troopes of 
" fourscore in each beside officers, who are to be 
" under the command of Our most deare and most 
" intirely beloved Cousin Prince Rupert, shall 
" be armed out of Our stoares remaining within 
" Our office of the Ordinance^ as followeth ; that 
" is to say, three corporalls, two Serjeants, the 
" gentlemen at armes, and twelve souldiers of 
" each of the said twelve Troopes, are to have and 
" carry each of them one halbard, and one case 

* This Regiment was disbanded after the Peace in 1674. 



INTRODUCTION. V 

" of pistolls with holsters ; and the rest of the 
" souldiers of the several Troopes aforesaid, are 
" to have and to carry each of them one match- 
*' locke musquet, with a collar of bandaliers, and 
" also to have and to carry one bayonet *, or great 
" knife. That each lieutenant have and carry 
" one partizan ; and that two drums be delivered 
" out for each Troope of the said Regiment f." 

Several regiments of Horse and Dragoons were 
raised in the first year of the reign of King 
James II. ; and the horsemen carried a short car- 
bine J in addition to the sword and pair of pistols : 
and in a Regulation dated the 21st of February, 
1687, the arms of the Dragoons at that period are 
commanded to be as follow : — 

"The Dragoons to have snaphanse musquets, 
'* strapt, with bright barrels of three foote eight 
" inches long, cartouch-boxes, bayonetts, granado 
" pouches, bucketts, and hammer- hatchetts." 

After several years' experience, little advantage 
was found to accrue from having Cavalry Regi- 
ments formed almost exclusively for engaging the 

* This appears to be the first introduction of bayonets into 
the English Army. t State Paper Office. 

X The first issue of carbines to the regular Horse appears 
to have taken place in 1678; the Life Guards, however, 
carried carbines from their formation in 1660. — Vide the 
' Historical Record of the Life Guards.' 



VI INTRODUCTION. 

enemy on foot ; and, the Horse having laid aside 
their armour, the arms and equipment of Horse 
and Dragoons were so nearly assimilated, that 
there remained little distinction besides the name 
and rate of pay. The introduction of improve- 
ments into the mounting, arming, and equipment 
of Dragoons rendered them competent to the 
performance of every description of service re- 
quired of Cavalry ; and, while the long musket 
and bayonet were retained, to enable them to act 
as Infantry, if necessary, they were found to be 
equally efficient, and of equal value to the nation, 
as Cavalry, with the Regiments of Horse. 

In the several augmentations made to the 
regular Army after the early part of the reign of 
Queen Anne, no new Regiments of Horse were 
raised for permanent service ; and in 1746 King 
George II. reduced three of the old Regiments 
of Horse to the quality and pay of Dragoons ; at 
the same time, His Majesty gave them the title of 
First, Second, and Third Regiments of Dragoon 
Guards: and in 1788 the same alteration was 
made in the remaining four Regiments of Horse, 
which then became the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and 
Seventh Regiments of Dragoon Guards. 

At present there are only three Regiments 
Avhich are styled Horse in the British Army, 



INTRODUCTION. Vll 

namely, the two Regiments of Life Guards, and 
the Royal Regiment of/ Horse Guards, to whom 
cuirasses have recently been restored. The other 
Cavalry Regiments consist of Dragoon Guards, 
Heavy and Light Dragoons, Hussars, and Lancers ; 
and although the long musket and bayonet have 
been laid aside by the whole of the Cavalry, and 
the Regiments are armed and equipped on the 
principle of the old Horse (excepting the cuirass), 
they continue to be styled Dragoons. 

The old Regiments of Horse formed a highly 
respectable and efficient portion of the Army, 
and it is found, on perusing the histories of the 
various campaigns in which they have been en- 
gaged, that they have, on all occasions, maintained 
a high character for steadiness and discipline, as 
well as for bravery in action. They were formerly 
mounted on horses of superior weight and phy- 
sical power, and few troops could withstand a 
well-directed charge of the celebrated British 
Horse. The records of these corps embrace a 
period of 1 50 years — a period eventful in history, 
and abounding in instances of heroism displayed 
by the British troops when danger has threatened 
the nation, — a period in which these Regiments 
have numbered in their ranks men of loyalty, 
valour, and good conduct, worthy of imitation. 



Vlll INTRODUCTION. 

Since the Regiments of Horse were formed 
into Dragoon Guards, additional improvements 
have been introduced into the constitution of the 
several corps ; and the superior description of 
horses now bred in the United Kingdom enables 
the commanding officers to remount their regi- 
ments with such excellent horses, that, whilst 
sufficient weight has been retained for a powerful 
charge in line, a lightness has been acquired which 
renders them available for every description of 
service incident to modern warfare. 

The orderly conduct of these Regiments in 
quarters has gained the confidence and esteem of 
the respectable inhabitants of the various parts of 
the United Kingdom in which they have been 
stationed ; their promptitude and alacrity in at- 
tending to the requisitions of the magistrates in 
periods of excitement, and the temper, patience, 
and forbearance which they have evinced when 
subjected to great provocation, insult, and violence 
from the misguided populace, prove the value of 
these troops to the Crown, and to the Government 
of the country, and justify the reliance which is 
reposed on them. 



HISTORICAL RECORD 



THE FOURTH, 



ROYAL IRISH REGIMENT 



DRAGOON GUARDS. 



CONTAINING AN ACCOUNT OK 



THE FORMATION OF THE REGIMENT 

IN 1685; 



ITS SUBSEQUENT SERVICES 
TO 1838. 



ILLUSTRATED WITH PLATES. 



PUBLISHED BY LONGMAN, ORME, AND CO. 

PATERNOSTER ROW. LONDON; 
AND BY MESSRS. CLOWES AND SONS 5 

AND TO BE HAD OF ALL BOOKSELLERS. 

1839. 



LO^DON : 

Piinled by VVilliam Clowes aud Sons 

Stamford Street. 



^©"^ 



.^^55, ©m nOYAL llHi^j^ 




ON GIOAB.^^^^ 



ISulMi^.WL J fl'ubkfflonJt.SlranJL- 






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CONTENTS. 



Anno Page 

1685 The Duke of Monmouth's rehellion . 1 

Six independent troops of horse raised . 3 

Constituted a regiment of Cuirassiers . . — 

Obtains rank as Sixth Regiment of Horse . 4 

Arms and equipment . . . . — 

Reviewed by King James II. . . 5 

1686 Establishment, and names of officers . . 6 

Reviewed by King James II. . . 7 

1687 — , and employed on the King's duty . — 

1688 The Revolution .... 8 

1689 Accession of William III. . . .9 

Employed on the King's duty . . 10 

\&^Q Ohtwas xsink ZiS: Fifth Regiment of Horse . 11 

1691 Proceeds on foreign service ... 12 

1692 Battle of Steenkirk . . . . — 

1693 Landen .... 13 

1695 Covering the siege of Namur . . .15 

1696 Attack on a French outpost . . 16 

1 697 Peace of Ryswick . . . . — 

Returns to England . . . 17 

1698 Proceeds to Ireland . . . . — 
1746 Styled First Irish Horse ... 22 
1751 Uniform, standards, &c, . . .23 
1788 Reduced to the quality of Dragoons, and styled 

Fourth Dragoon Guards . . .31 

Styled the Fourth, or Royal Irish Dragoon Guards 33 

. 34 



1793 Proceeds to England 
1795 Returns to Ireland 



CONTENTS. 



Anno 

1796 



1797 
1798 



1799 

1800 
1802 
1803 

1804 
1805 
1806 
1808 

1809 

1810 
1811 
1812 



1813 

1814 
1814 



Page 

Disturbed state of Ireland . . .35 

A French force arrives at Bantry Bay . — 

Alterations in the equipment, &c. . . 36 

Rebellion in Ireland . . 37 

Action at Naas . . . — 

Prosperous and Carlow . , 38 

near Gorey . . . .39 

at Ovidstown, GofF's Bridge, and Arklow 40 

Vinegar Hill . . .41 

Gore's Bridge and Kildare . 43 

Proceeds to England . . . .44 
Horses' tails docked ... — 
Marches to Scotland . . . . — 
Returns to Ireland — Alteration in the clothing 45 
Bonaparte's threat of invading England . . — 
Field-officers released from the charge of troops 46 
Embarks for England . . . . — 
St. Patrick's fund established in the regiment 47 
Proceeds to Scotland — Returns to England . — 
Riots at Manchester, «&c. ... 48 
Men's hair cut short, and powder discontinued . 49 
Troop Quartermasters replaced by Troop Serjeant- 
Majors . . . . , — 
Riots in the Coal districts ... — 
Six troops proceed to Portugal . . .50 
Covering the siege of Ciudad Rodrigo . 51 

Badajoz . . . — 

Skirmish at Llerena • • . 52 

Advances to Madrid . . . . __ 

Retreats to Portugal . . . 

Returns to England . . . .54 

Regimental school established . . 

Peace concluded — The establishment reduced . 55 

Proceeds to Ireland . . , _ 



CONTENTS. V 

Anno Page 

1814 Alteration in the uniform . . .56 

1815 War proclaimed — The establishment augmented — 

Peace restored — The establishment reduced . 57 

1818 Embarks for England . . . — 

1819 Alteration in the uniform . . .58 

1820 Riots at Wakefield and Sheffield . . 59 

1821 Marches to Scotland . . . . — 

1822 Embarks for Ireland . , 60 
1826 England . . . .61 

Riots at Dudley, Wolverhampton, and Lichfield — 

1827 Alterations in the uniform . . .62 

1830 Marches to Scotland ... 64 
• Lace changed from silver to gold . . — 

1831 Riots at elections in Scotland . . — 

1832 Embarks for Ireland . . . .66 

Riots in Ireland . . . . — 

1834 Ditto . . . , .71 

1835 Embarks for England, and stationed at Brighton 74 

1837 Riots at elections in England . . .77 

1838 Attends the coronation of Queen Victoria . 78 
Her Majesty approves of the regiment bearing the 

Harp and Crown, in addition to the Star of 

the Order of St. Patrick . . 79 

The conclusion . . . . — 



CONTENTS. 



SUCCESSION OF COLONELS. 

Anno 

1685 James Earl of Arran, K.T. 
1 688 Charles Earl of Selkirk 

Charles Godfrey 

1693 Francis Langston . 

1113 George Jocelyn 

1715 Sherrington Davenport 

1119 Owen Wynne . 

1132 Thomas Pearce 

1139 James Lord Tyrawley . 

1143 John Brown 

1162 James Johnston 

1115 James Johnston 

1118 George Warde 

1803 Miles Staveley 

1814 Sir Henry Fane, G.C.B. 

1821 Sir George Anson, G.C.B. 



Pafte 
81 

83 



84 
85 
86 

87 
88 
89 
90 

92 

93 
94 



PLATES. 

The Standard of the Regiment to follow the regimental Title-page. 
Colonel Francis Langston at the battle of Landen to face Page 14. 
The Uniform in 1838 to face . . . . > , 80. 



HISTORICAL RECORD 

OF THE 

FOURTH, OR ROYAL IRISH REGIMENT 

ov 

DRAGOON GUARDS. 



The Regiment, which forms the subject of the 1685 
following memoir, is one of the seventeen corps, 
now in the British army, which derive their origin 
from the commotions in England during the first 
year of the reign of King James II. 

The origin of these commotions may be traced 
to the pernicious councils adopted by King Charles 
I., which were followed by a flame of puritanical 
zeal and of democratical fury and outrage in the 
country, which deprived the monarch of life, and 
forced the royal family to reside for several years 
in exile on the continent, where King Charles II. 
and his brother, James Duke of York, imbibed 
the doctrines of the Church of Rome. After the 
Restoration, in 1660, the King concealed his re- 
ligion from his Protestant subjects ; but the Duke 
of York openly avowed the tenets of the Roman 
Catholic Church, which rendered him exceedingly 
unpopular. King Charles II. having no legitimate 
issue, his eldest illegitimate son, James Duke of 

B 



2 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 

1685 Monmouth, an officer of some merit, who had 
espoused the Protestant cause with great warmth, 
and had become very popular, aspired to the throne. 
In a few months after the accession of James II., 
this nobleman arrived from Holland (11th June, 
1685) with a band of armed followers, and erect- 
ing his standard in the west of England, called 
upon the people to aid him in gaining the sovereign 
power. 

Although a deep feeling of anxiety was general 
in the kingdom at this period, yet the King had 
declared his determination to support the Protes- 
tant religion, as by law established, and his designs 
against the constitution had not been manifested ; 
hence loyalty to the sovereign, a principle so 
genial to the innate feelings of the British people, 
prevailed over every other consideration. A num- 
ber of Mendip miners and other disaffected persons 
joined the Duke of Monmouth ; but men of all ranks 
arrayed themselves under the banners of royalty. 

To officers and soldiers imbued with a laudable 
esprit de corps, the particulars relating to the 
origin and services of their regiment are of intense 
interest, and the circumstances which gave rise to 
the formation of their corps are of themselves an 
era. To encourage such feelings is one of the 
objects of the present undertaking, and, although 
the general reader may think the narrative tedious, 
the officers and men of the Royal Irish Dragoon 
Guards will feel gratified at learning by whom, 
and where, each troop, of which their regiment 
was originally composed, was raised. This infor- 
mation has been procured from public documents, 
in which it is recorded that, in the midst of the 



THE FOURTH DRAGOON GUARDS. 3 

hostile preparations which the Duke of Mon- 1685 
mouth's rebellion occasioned in every part of the 
kingdom, a troop of horse was raised by James 
Earl of Arran, eldest son of William Duke 
of Hamilton, a nobleman distinguished alike for 
loyalty and attachment to the Protestant religion ; 
a second troop was raised, in the vicinity of Lon- 
don, by Captain John Parker, Lieutenant of the 
Horse Grenadier Guards attached to the King's 
Own troop of Life Guards (now First Regiment 
of Life Guards) ; a third at Lichfield, by William 
Baggott, Esq. ; a fourth at Grantham, by Thomas 
Harrington, Esq. ; a fifth at Durham, by John 
Fetherstonhalgh, Esq. ; and the sixth at Morpeth, 
by William Ogle, Esq. ; and that, after the decisive 
battle of Sedgemoor had destroyed the hopes of 
the invader, these six troops were ordered to march 
to the south of England, and were incorporated 
into a regiment of Cuirassiers, which is now 
the Fourth or Royal Irish Regiment of 
Dragoon Guards. The Colonelcy was con- 
ferred on the Earl of Arran, by commission, 
dated the 28th of July, 1685 ; the Lieutenant- 
Colonelcy on Captain Charles Nedby,* from the 

* Captain Charles Nedby commanded a troop in the Duke of 
Monmouth's regiment of horse, which was raised in 1678, in the 
expectation of a war with France, and was disbanded in the fol- 
lowing year. In 1680 he raised an independent troop of horse for 
service at Tangier in Africa, and proceeding thither immediately, 
distinguished himself in an action with the Moors, on 27th of 
September, 1680. In 1683 the four troops of Tangier horse were 
constituted, together with two troops raised in England, the 
Royal Regiment of Dragoons. Captain Nedby continued in the 
Royal Dragoons until June, 1685, when he raised a troop of horse 
for the Queen's Regiment, now 1st Dragoon Guards; and in 
July of the same year he was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel of 
the Earl of Arran's Regiment. 

B 2 



4 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 

1685 Queen's regiment of horse ; and the commission 
of Major on Captain John Parker. 

At the formation of this regiment it ranked as 
Sixth Horse, but was distinguished by the name 
of its Colonel, the practice of using numerical 
titles not having been introduced into the British 
army until the reign of King George II. This 
corps being composed of the sons of substantial 
yeomen and tradesmen, who provided their own 
horses, it was held in high estimation in the 
country, and the men were placed on a rate of 
pay (2s. 6d. per day) which gave them a respect- 
able station in society. Few nations in Europe 
possessed a body of troops which could vie with 
the English horse in all the qualities of good 
soldiers, and, in the reigns of King William III. 
and Queen Anne, this arme acquired a celebrity 
for gallantry and good conduct ; and these qua- 
lities, whether evinced by bravery in the field, 
or by steadiness and temperate behaviour when 
their services have been required on home duties, 
have proved their usefulness, and have rendered 
them valuable corps during succeeding reigns. 

The Earl of Arran's Regiment was armed 
and equipped, in common with the other regi- 
ments of Cuirassiers, with long swords, a pair 
of long pistols, and short carbines ; the men 
wore hats, with broad brims bound with narrow 
lace, turned up on one side, and ornamented 
with ribands ; large boots ; and gauntlet gloves ; 
their defensive armour was steel cuirasses, and 
head-pieces. This regiment was distinguished 
by white ribands, white linings to the coat, white 
waistcoats and breeches, white horse-furniture, the 



THE FOURTH DRAGOON GUARDS. 

carbine belts covered with white cloth, and orna- 1685 
mented with lace, and the officers wore white 
silk sashes ; — each regiment had a distinguishing 
colour, which was then called its livery, and which 
is now called facing, and the distinguishing co- 
lour of the Earl of Arran's Regiment was 

WHITE.* 

On their arrival in the south of England, 
Arran's Cuirassiers proceeded to the vicinity 
of Hounslow, and on the 20th of August passed in 
review before King James II. and his court on 
the heath. In order to make a display of his 
power and to overawe the disaifected in the king- 
dom, His Majesty ordered an army of eight thou- 
sand men to encamp on Hounslow Heath, of which 
this regiment formed a part ; and on the 22nd of 
August the King reviewed twenty squadrons of 
horse, one of horse-grenadier guards, one of dra- 
goons, and ten battalions of foot on the heath. 
After the review Arran's Cuirassiers marched 



* According to the estimates of this period, the following 
sums were usually paid for the clothing of the horse : — 



Scarlet coats 

Corporal's ditto 

Red cloaks, lined 

Hats edged with lace 

Sword and belts 

Carbine belts . 

Cloth waistcoats 

Buff gloves .... 

Horse furniture, — viz. : housing and 

ster-caps, embroidered 
Jacked boots 
Cartouch boxes 



hol- 



£ s. d. 

3 10 

4 10 
2 5 

15 

1 
7 
1 5 
7 6 

h 5 



1 6 
2 6 

Each Captain clothed his own trumpeter, and the Colonel the 
kettle-drummer. 



b HISTORICAL RECORD OF 

1685 into quarters at Winchester and Andover, where 
they arrived on the 5th of September. 

1686 111 these quarters the regiment passed the suc- 
ceeding winter ; and on the 1st of January, 1686, 
its establishment was fixed by a warrant under 
the sign manual, from which the following is an 
extract : — 



THE EARL OF ARRAN'S REGIMENT OF HORSE, 


Field and Staff-Officers. 


Per Diem. 


The Colonel, as Colonel - 


£. 





s. 
12 

8 


d. 





Lieutenant-Colonel, as Lieut. -Colonel , 


... 


The Major (who has no troop), for himself, 
and servants 


horses, \ 


1 








Adjutant 







5 





Chaplain 





fi 


8 


Chirurgeon iv^ per day, and j horse to carry hisi 
chest, ij^ per day '_' 





6 





A Kettle- Drummer to the Colonel's troop 


. . . 





3 









3 





8 


The Colonel's Troop. 










The Colonel, as Captaine, y? per day, and ij 
each at ij^ per day 


horses,) 





14 





Lievtenant vi% and ij horses, each at ij^ . 


. 





10 





Cornett v% and ij horses, each at ij* . 








9 
6 





Quarter-Master iv% and i horse, at ij* 


Three Corporals, each at iij* per day . 


. 





9 





Two Trumpeters, each at ij* viii* ► 


. . . 





5 


4 


Forty Private Soldiers, each at ij* vi'* per day 


. . . 


5 








Five Troops more, of the same numbers, and at the) 
same rates of pay as the Colonel's troop . . j 


7 
38 


13 
6 


4 
8 


Total for this Regiment per Diei 


A 


49 





8 




. . fA7 


,897 


3 


4 





THE FOURTH DRAGOON GUARDS. 



At this period the following officers were hold- 1686 
ing commissions in the regiment : — 



Troop 


Captains. 


Lieutenants. Cornets. 


1st 


Earl of Arran (Col.) 


Thos. Daliell Ch. Carterret 


2nd 


Ch. Nedby (Lt.-Col.) 


Thos. Bagshaw Thos. Webster 


3rd 


Wm. Baggott 


Rd. Fetherstonhalgh Mark Strother 


4th 


Jno, Fetherstonhalgh 


Thos. Brackston Philip Lawson 


5th 


Thos. Harrington 


Wm. Hall Jos. Ascough 


6th 


Wm. Ogle 


Ar. Hepburn Surtes Swinburn 




John Parker 


Major. 




John Sharrall 


. . . Chaplain. 




Stephen Aston 


. . . . Adjutant. 




Anthony Rouse .... Chirurgeon. 



Arran's Cuirassiers were called from their 
cantonments in Hampshire in June, and again 
pitched their tents on Hounslow Heath, where they 
were reviewed several times by the King; and 
afterwards marched into quarters at Leicester, 
Ashby de la Zouch, Loughborough, and Melton 
Mowbray ; and while in these quarters their Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel retired, and was succeeded by Major 
John Parker. 

In the following summer they were withdrawn 1687 
from Leicestershire, and proceeding to the metro- 
polis, occupied quarters for a short time at Chelsea 
and Knightsbridge, from whence they proceeded 
to Hounslow, and again pitched their tents on the 
heath. After having been reviewed by the King, 
they marched (9th August) to Windsor and adja- 
cent villages, and furnished a guard for the royal 
family at Windsor Castle ; also a guard for the 
Princess Anne (afterwards Queen Anne) at Hamp- 
ton Court Palace, and one troop was stationed at 
London to assist the Life Guards in their attendance 
on the Court. 

On the 31st of August the regiment marched 
to London, and was quartered in Holborn, Gray's 
Inn Lane, and the vicinity of Smithfield, in order to 
take part in the duties of the court and metropolis ; 



8 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 

1687 and in September it furnished adetachment to protect 
a large sum of money from London to Portsmoutli. 

[688 Having been relieved from the King's duty, 
Arran's Cuirassiers marched to Richmond and 
adjacent villages in May, 1688; and in July they 
once more encamped on Hounslow Heath. After 
taking part in several reviews, mock-battles, and 
splendid military spectacles, which were exhibited 
on the Heath by a numerous army, they proceeded 
to Cambridge, Peterborough, and St. Ives, and 
afterwards to Ipswich, wdiere they were stationed 
a short time under Major- General Sir John Lanier, 
but were suddenly ordered to march to London in 
the beginning of November. 

The circumstances in which the loyal officers 
and soldiers of the King's army were placed were 
of a most painful character. The King had been 
making rapid advances towards the subversion of 
the established religion and laws of the kingdom; 
and loyalty to the sovereign, — a distinguished 
feature in the character of the British soldier, and 
the love of the best interests of their native country, 
— which is inherent in men, were become so op- 
posed to each other, that it appeared necessary for 
one to be sacrificed. Arran's Cuirassiers were, 
however, spared this painful ordeal by the circum- 
stances which occurred. The King had resolved 
to remodel his army in England by the dismissal 
of Protestants and the introduction of Papists, as 
he had already done in Ireland ; but the arrival of 
the Prince of Orange, with a Dutch army to aid 
the English nobility in opposing the proceedings 
of the Court, overturned the King's measures. 
The loyalty and attachment to the King evinced 
by the Earl of Arran occasioned him to be 



THE FOURTH DRAGOON GUARDS. 9 

promoted to the rank of Brigadier-General, and his 1688 
regiment was considered one of the corps on which 
dependence could be placed. It had completed an 
augmentation of ten men per troop ordered in 
September, and was selected to remain as a guard 
near the Queen and the infant Prince of Wales, 
who was afterwards known as the Pretender : but 
a defection appearing in the army, the infant 
Prince was sent to Portsmouth ; and the regiment, 
having been released from its duty of attendance 
on the Queen, was ordered to march to Salisbury. 

Many officers and soldiers joined the Prince of 
Orange, and amongst others, Lord Churchill, 
Colonel of the third troop of Life Guards ; the 
King gave the Duke of Berwick the. command of 
the third troop of Life Guards ; removed the Earl 
OF Arran to the Royal Regiment of Horse Guards ; 
and conferred the Colonelcy of the Sixth Horse 
on the Earl's brother, Charles Earl of Selkirk, 
from Guidon and Major in the fourth troop of Life 
Guards, his commission bearing date the 20th of 
November, 1688, 

The desertions which took place alarmed the 
King and Queen ; Her Majesty fled with the infant 
Prince to France, and was followed by the King. 
The Prince of Orange assumed the reins of govern- 
ment, and the Earl of Selkirk's regiment was 
ordered to march to Stamford in Lincolnshire. 

On the 31st of December, 1688, the Prince of 
Orange conferred the Colonelcy of the regiment 
on Colonel Charles Godfrey, who had previously 
held a commission in the Duke of Monmouth's 
regiment of horse. 

The Prince and Princess of Orange having 1689 
ascended the throne while the regiment was quar- 



10 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 

1089 tered in Lincolnshire, it took part in the solemnity 
of the proclamation of their Majesty's accession at 
Stamford, on the 16th of February, 1689, on which 
occasion three troops, with the trumpets and kettle 
drums, paraded tlie town, and, ' after firing several 

* volleys, partook of a substantial repast, with abun- 

* dance of wine, and drank their Majesties' health 

* amidst reiterated acclamations.' 

In the middle of March three troops proceeded 
to the Isle of Wight, where 1500 Irish Roman 
Catholics were detained in the custody of a mili- 
tary force. These men had entered the service of 
King James in Ireland, and had been ordered to 
England to support the arbitrary proceedings of 
the Court ; at the Revolution they were deprived 
of their arms and sent prisoners to the Isle of 
Wight, from whence they were eventually trans- 
ported to Hamburgh, to be disposed of in the ser- 
vice of the Emperor of Germany. 

Thirty men and horses of the regiment Avere 
transferred, in April, to the Blues, to complete the 
establishment of that corps previous to its embarka- 
tion for Holland. 

During the summer three troops of the Sixth 
Horse were encamped on Hounslow Heath. King 
William had reasons to suspect that several old 
corps were not well affected towards his interests ; 
but His Majesty appears to have placed entire con- 
fidence in the attachment of the officers and men 
of this regiment to his person and government ; 
and in August a strong detachment left the camp 
at Hounslow, to take part in the duties of the 
Court and metropolis. The remainder of the 
three troops of the Sixth Horse, encamped on 
the heath, proceeded into quarters at Croydon and 



THE FOURTH DRAGOON GUARDS. 1 1 

Mitcham ; and in December, the three troops in 1689 
the Isle of Wight were removed to Salisbury, 

The detachment having been relieved from the 1690 
King's duty in London, the regiment was removed 
in February, 1690, into quarters at Oxford and 
Abingdon. In the following month it received 
orders to embark for Ireland, to serve under King 
William, against the French and the Irish Roman 
Catholics under King James. This order was, 
however, countermanded, and when the King pro- 
ceeded with three troops of Life Guards to Ireland, 
this regiment marched into quarters in the villages 
near London, in order to take part in the duties of 
the Court. Having been relieved from this duty 
by the Fourth Horse (now 3rd Dragoon Guards), 
the regiment marched into quarters at Portsmouth 
and Isle of Wight, and subsequently to Salisbury 
and Winchester. 

During the winter, the Fifth Regiment of Horse* 
was disbanded in Ireland ; and the Sixth Horse 
obtained rank as Fifth Horse from this period. 

From Salisbury and Winchester the regiment, 1691 
now taking rank as Fifth Horse, was withdrawn 
in May, 1691, and proceeded to Hertford, Dart- 
ford, and Romford, and one troop furnished the 
guard at Windsor for the Queen Dowager, Ca- 
therine, consort of the late King Charles II. In 
June one troop was in attendance on the Princess 
Anne at Tunbridge ; and in the autumn the regi- 
ment furnished a relay of escorts to attend the King 

* The Fifth Horse were embodied in July, 1685, under the 
command of the Earl of Thanet, who was succeeded, on the 24th 
of October of the same year, by Major-General Werden. This 
officer commanded the regiment until December, 1688, when 
Lord Deloraine was appointed to the command ; his Lordship was 
succeeded in the following year by Colonel Francis Russell, who 
commanded it until it was disbanded. 



1 2 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 

169.1 from Harwich to London, when His Majesty re- 
turned from the Netherlands. 

The conquest of Ireland having been achieved, 
the King was enabled to augment his army in the 
Low Countries ; and, soon after His Majesty's 
arrival in England, Godfrey's Horse were se- 
lected to proceed on foreign service. The regi- 
ment was, accordingly, embarked in transports on 
the river Thames on the 27th of November, and 
sailed on the following day. After its arrival in 
Flanders it went into quarters at Ghent. 

1692 In the spring of the following year, the Fifth 
Regiment of Horse took the field to serve its first 
campaign with the army under King William III. 
in person, who was fighting for the preservation of 
the Protestant religion and the balance of power 
in Europe, against the forces of Louis XIV. of 
France. After several movements. King William 
attacked the French army, commanded by Marshal 
Luxembourg, at its position near Steenhirh, on 
the 24th of July, 1692. The Fifth Horse sup- 
ported the attacking column, and when the infantry 
deployed, it drew up on the right skirts of a wood, 
through which the main body of the army had to 
pass. The leading corps behaved with signal gal- 
lantry, but were repulsed, and the main body of 
the army was too far in the rear to give the re- 
quired support. An immense body of French 
cavalry menacing the British infantry, the Fifth 
Horse were ordered to advance, and they suc- 
ceeded in checking the enemy's squadrons. Lord 
Mountjoy*, a young nobleman of great promise, 

* Lord Mountjoy was a warm-hearted Irish nobleman, devoted 
to the Protestant interest. At the Revohition he was desirous 
of havinsj Ireland delivered into the hands of King; William; 
the Lord- Lieutenant, EarlTyrconnel, appeared to acquiesce, and 



THE FOURTH DRAGOON GUARDS. 13 

who was serving as a volunteer, was killed by a 1692 
cannon ball at the head of the regiment. It soon 
afterwards received orders to retire, and this move- 
ment was covered by a squadron of Horse Grena- 
dier Guards. The regiment was subsequently en- 
gaged in several movements, and in the autumn it 
proceeded into winter-quarters. 

Shortly after the battle of Steenkirk, the Prin- 
cess Anne of Denmark's regiment of horse,* which 
had lost many men and horses in the action, was 
disbanded; and on the 7th of March, 1693, its 169;5 
Colonel, Francis Langston, was appointed to the 
command of the Fifth Horse, vice Colonel 
Charles Godfrey, who retired. 

In the ensuing campaign the regiment was again 
engaged for several weeks in marches, manoeuvring^ 
and occupying positions on the rich plains of the 
Netherlands, to defeat the designs of the enemy ; . 
and on the 19th of July it was engaged in the hard- 
sent Lord Mountjoy to France to obtain the sanction of King 
James, who confined him in the Bastile, where he remained 
until 1692, when he was exchanged for General Richard 
Hamilton. He arrived from France a few days before the battle 
of Steenkirk, and though holding no military rank, he served 
with this resriment as a volunteer, and was killed as above stated. 

* Ttie Princess Anne's regiment was formed of independent 
troops of horse raised in June, 1685, and the Colonelcy conferred 
on the Earl of Scarsdale, who was succeeded, on the 1st of De- 
cember, 1687, by Charles, Duke of St. Alban's. This regiment 
was remarkable for being one of the first corps which joined the 
Prince of Orange in November, 1688; having been conducted to 
His Highness's quarters by the Lieutenant-Colonel, Thomas 
Langston, who was immediately promoted to the Colonelcy of the 
regiment, and his brother, Captain Francis Langston, of the Royal 
Dragoons, was promoted to the Lieutenant- Colonelcy. Colonel 
Thomas Langston died of a fever at Lisburn, in Ireland, in De- 
cember, 1689, and the Colonelcy of the regiment was conferred 
on his brother Francis. This regiment served at the battles of 
the Boyne and Aghrim in Ireland, and at Steenkirk in the Ne- 
therlands ; but havmg lost many men and horses, the remainder 
were transferred to other corps, and the regiment was taken off 
the establishment of the army in the autumn of 1692, The offi- 
cers served en seconde until vacancies occurred in other regiments. 



14 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 

1693 contested battle of Landen, where it had an op- 
portunity of distinguishing itself. It was formed, 
during the early part of the action, near the village 
of Neer- Landen, to support the infantry on the left, 
and sustained some loss from a heavy cannonade 
to which it was exposed. At length Marshal 
Luxembourg, by means of an immense superiority 
of numbers, carried the village of Neer-Winden, 
forced the position occupied by his opponents, and 
his numerous cavalry overpowered the squadrons 
in the right wing of the confederate army. King 
William instantly ordered the English horse on the 
left to oppose the victorious career of the enemy ; 
and Langston's Regiment, galloping to the scene 
of conflict, charged the French horsemen with 
signal gallantry. The right squadron of this re- 
giment, led by its Colonel, Francis Langston, 
broke the French squadron to which it was op- 
posed, and made great slaughter ; and the heroic 
Langston, an officer remarkable for prowess and 
valour, who had served against the Moors in Africa, 
and at the battles of the Boyne, Aghrim, and Steen- 
kirk, was seen using his broadsword with terrible 
execution, but he was eventually surrounded, se- 
verely wounded, and taken prisoner. Fresh squa- 
drons of French cavalry, flushed with the prospect 
of victory, renewed the fight, and, notwithstanding 
the bravery evinced by the English horse, superio- 
rity of numbers prevailed. King William ordered 
a retreat, which, having to be made across bridges 
and by narrow defiles, was not executed without 
much confusion and loss. His Majesty remained 
on the ground until nearly surrounded by the ene- 
my ; but he was rescued by a party of his Life 
Guards and a troop of Horse. 




.,./.v '■" 



3>^"" 






THE FOURTH DRAGOON GUARDS. 15 

After retiring from the field, the regiment pro- 1693 
ceeded to Tirlemont ; it was subsequently engaged 
in several movements, and on the 5th of August it 
was reviewed by King William, with the remainder 
of the cavalry, near Wemmel. In November it 
marched into quarters at Ghent. 

Having been joined by a body of recruits and 1694 
remount horses from England, to replace the losses 
of the preceding campaign, the regiment marched 
out of Ghent in May, 1694, to cantonments in the ^ 
villages between Brussels and Dendermond. The 
campaign of this year was remarkable for the long 
and fatiguing marches performed by the troops ; 
but no general engagement occurred. After tra- 
versing Flanders and Brabant in various directions, 
and experiencing much privation from the country 
having so long been the seat of war, the regiment 
returned to its former quarters. 

The services of the regiment during the cam- 1695 
paign of 1695 were limited to covering the siege 
of JVamur, one of the strongest fortresses in Eu- 
rope, and garrisoned by 15,000 men, commanded 
by a Marshal of France (Boufflers). When the 
siege was formed, the regiment was detached to 
graze the horses between Charleroi and Mons ; it 
was subsequently engaged in manoeuvring to pro- 
tect the besieging forces from the attacks of the 
French army. In the beginning of August the 
regiment was encamped at Waterloo, and subse- 
quently in the immediate vicinity of Namur. This 
fortress was eventually captured, and this event 
Avas considered the brightest feature in King Wil- 
liam's military history, and one upon which he was , 
often heard to declare his satisfaction. 

After passing the winter in Ghent, the regiment 1696 



16 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 

1696 was brigaded with the regiments of liiiniley and 
Schomberg (now 1st and 7th Dragoon Guards), 
and was reviewed by the King on the 30th of 
May, 1696, "and made a very noble appearance." 
It served the campaign of this year under the Prince 
of Vaudemont in Flanders ; and was encamped — 
first at Marykirk, and subsequently along the canal 
between Ghent and Bruges, to protect these places, 
with Nieuport, and the other maritime towns of 
Flanders, from the attacks of the enemy. A French 
army was encamped on the opposite side of the ca- 
nal, and several skirmishes occurred, but no general 
engagement took place. 

On the night of the 20th of September, Colonel 
Langston crossed the canal with a squadron of this 
regiment and a party of dragoons, and attacking 
one of tlie French outposts, defeated the guard and 
took thirty prisoners. The Prince of Vaudemont 
reviewed the regiment a few days after this event, 
and on the 5th of October it left the camp for 
winter-quarters in Ghent. 

1697 The regiment having been selected to form part 
of the army of Brabant during the campaign of 
1697, it marched out of its winter-quarters in the 
early part of May, and pitched its tents at St. 
Quintin Linneck on the 16tli of that month, and 
was formed in brigade with Leveson's, Windham's, 
and Galway's regiments (2nd and 6th Dragoon 
Guards, and a regiment of French Protestants.) 
It took part in several manoeuvres, and during the 
night of the 12th of June it retired with the army 
through the forest of Soigne, and took post before 
Brussels, to protect that city from a siege. The 
regiment was subsequently encamped near Wavre, 
where it remained until peace was restored l)y the 



THE FOURTH DRAGOON GUARDS. 



17 



Treaty of Ryswick*, which was signed in Septem- 1697 
ber. It aftenvards marched to Ghent, and during 
the winter embarked for England. 

After its return from foreign service the regi- 1698 
ment was quartered at Northampton, Banbury, and 
Wellingborough ; and, the House of Commons 
having voted that only 1 0,000 regular troops should 
be kept in pay in England, it was ordered, in Fe- 
bruary, 1698, to march to Highlake, in Cheshire, 
and to embark for Ireland. 

Having landed at Dublin on the 31st of March, 
the regiment Avas placed on the Irish establishment, 
and the rates of pay of the non-commissioned offi- 
cers and soldiers were reduced ; the troops in Ire- 
land being on a lower rate of pay than those in 
England. 

The establishment of the regiment was fixed by 1699 
a warrant under the sign-manual, bearing date the 
1st of May, 1699, at the following numbers : — 

Colonel, as Colonel, 12*.; in lieu of servants, 3s. .£0 15 

Lieut.-Colonel, as Lieut.-Colonel 

Major, as Major 

Chaplain . . . 

Chirurgeon . . . . 

Kettle-Drummer .... 

First Troop. 
Captain, 10*.; 2 horses, each 2s.; in lieu of servants 



Lieutenants, 5*. ; do. 2^. ; 

Cornet, 3*. ; do. 2*. ; 

Quartermaster, for himself and horse 

2 Corporals, each 2*. 6c?. 

1 Trumpeter, 2*^. 6 c?. . 

36 Private Troopers, each \s. 6d. 

5 Troops more of the same numbers 

Total per day 

Per year . 



do. 
do. 








8 





. 





5 


6 


. 





6 


8 







4 





• 





2 


6 


s, 3*. 





17 





. 6c?. 





10 


6 


.6d. 





8 


6 


. 





5 





. 





5 





. 





2 


6 


. 


2 


14 





' 


25 


12 


6 


, 


32 


16 


8 



£11,984 3 4 



When the regimental record was read to King William IV. 

C 



18 HISTORICAL RECORDS OF 

1699 In the same year His Majesty issued an order — 
' That whatever regiment, troop, or company shall 
' be on duty in Dublin, there is to be allowed unto 
' each private horseman Sd. per diem, and to each 
* private foot soldier Id. per diem, over and above 
' what is otherwise established*.' The troopers of 
this regiment were the first to derive the advan- 
tages given by this order, as they vvere on Dublin 
duty at the time it was issued, 

1701 The decease of King James having taken place 
at St. Germains, in September, 1701, the King of 
France (Louis XIV.) proclaimed the pretended 
Prince of Wales King of Great Britain by the 
style and title of James III. : this event, with the 
elevation of the Duke of Anjou to the throne of 
Spain in violation of the most solemn engagements, 
was followed by a sanguinary war with France and 
Spain, and a British force proceeded to the Nether- 
lands. This regiment was not, however, employed 
on foreign service during the war ; the proclama- 
tion of the Pretender, with the death of King Wil- 
liam III., which occurred in March, 1702, had 
revived the hopes of the Papists ; and the parti- 
sans of the Stuart dynasty were conspiring to effect 
the elevation of the Pretender to the throne of these 
kingdoms. Queen Anne, therefore, deemed it ex- 
pedient to detain in Ireland a few trusty corps of 
approved devotion to the Protestant interest, and 
Brigadier-General Langston's Regiment of 

in November, 1835, at the Royal Pavilion, Brigiiton, His Majesty 
observed — ' T was often at the house where the peace of Ryswick 
' was signed. It was then the property of the Earl of Athlone, 
' but now belongs to the Duchess of Saxe-Meiningen, sister to 
' her Majesty the Queen.' 

* Official Records in Ireland. 



THE FOURTH DRAGOON GUARDS. 19 

Horse was selected to remain in that kingdom. 1702 
This honourable distinction necessarily prevented 
the regiment sharing in the many glorious vic- 
tories gained by the forces under the great Duke 
of Marlborough, where five regiments of British 
horse (now the 1st, 3rd, 5th, 6th, and 7th Dra- 
goon Guards) acquired never-fading laurels. 

In 1703 the regiment was again employed on 1703 
Dublin duty, and on the 24th of July it was re- 
viewed near that city by his grace the Duke of 
Ormond, the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, who ex- 
pressed his admiration of its appearance and dis- 
cipline. 

For many years subsequent to this period there 1704 
was little diversity in the services of the regiment : 
it was usually stationed at or near Dublin, occa- 
sionally occupying dispersed cantonments in more 
remote parts of the kingdom. 

During the summer of 1706 the regiment was 1706 
encamped on the Curragh of Kildare. On the 
21st of April, 1709, two troops attended the Earl 1709 
of Wharton, the Lord- Lieutenant of Ireland, at 
his public entry into Dublin ; and on the 7th of 
May, 1710, two troops escorted his lordship into 1710 
Dublin, on his return from England. 

Lieutenant- General Francis Langston having 1713 
retired from the service, the Colonelcy of the re- 
giment was conferred, through the interest of James 
Duke of Ormond, on Brigadier-General George 
Jocelyn, from the Second Troop (now Second Regi- 
ment) of Life Guards, by commission dated the 
20th of October, 1713. 

After the accession of King George I. in 1714, 1714 
the Duke of Ormond being removed from the 

c 2 



•20 HISTORICAL RECORDS OF 

1714 command of the army, Brigadier-General Jocelyn 
sold his commission and quitted the service; and 
was succeeded in the Colonelcy of the Fifth 

1715 Horse by Major-General Sherrington Daven- 
port, from the Lieutenant- Colonelcy of the First 
Troop (now First Regiment) of Life Guards, his 
commission bearing date the 9th of February, 
1715. 

About this period the distinguishing colour, or 
facing, of the regiment was changed from white to 
light blue. 

When the rebellion of the Earl of ]\Iar, in 
favour of the Pretender, broke out in Scotland, the 
Fifth Horse were directed to hold themselves 
in readiness to proceed to England on the shortest 

1716 notice ; but the rebellion was suppressed by the 
forces under the Duke of Argyle, without the aid 
of this corps being required. 

1718 Tranquillity having been restored, the establish- 
ment of the regiment was reduced to 24 private 
men per troop. 

1719 The decease of Major-General Davenport oc- 
curred on the 2nd of July, 1719 ; and on the 6th 
of that month King George L conferred the 
Colonelcy of the Fifth Horse on Major-General 
Owen Wynne, from a Regiment of Dragoons, 
now 9th Lancers : this officer commanded the 
regiment upwards of thirteen years, and was 

1732 removed, in August, 1732, to the Royal Irish 
(late Fifth) Regiment of Dragoons. 

In September, 1732, King George II. ap- 
pointed Lieutenant- General Thomas Pearce to the 
Colonelcy of the Fifth Horse, from the 5th 
Regiment of Foot. 



THE FOURTH DRAGOON GUARDS. 21 

Lieutenant-General Pearce commanded the re- 1739 
giment seven years, and, dying in the summer of 
1739, was succeeded in the Colonelcy by Major- 
General James Lord Tyrawley, from the Royal 
Regiment of Fusiliers, his commission bearing 
date the 26th of August, 1739. 

On the 27th of the following month the regi- 
ment formed part of a splendid cavalcade which 
attended his grace the Duke of Devonshire on 
his arrival at Dublin as Lord Lieutenant of Ire- 
land, from the water-side to the castle. 

The decease of Charles VI., Emperor of Ger- 1740 
many, having been followed by a contest between 
his daughter, the Archduchess Maria-Theresa and 
the Elector of Bavaria, respecting the sovereignty 
of Bohemia and Hungaria, King George II. re- 
solved to support the house of Austria; — the 
strength of the army was augmented, and ] men 
and horses were added in 1740 to each troop of 
the Fifth Regiment of Horse. 

During the summer of this year (1740) the popu- 
lace of Dublin broke out into open riot, committing 
many acts of violence and outrage, in consequence 
of a scarcity of corn, and Tyrawley's Horse 
were ordered out and directed to patrole the streets 
night and day. 

In April of the following year a further augment- 1741 
ation of nine men per troop was made to the 
establishment ; and in 1742 a British army was 1742 
sent to Flanders to support the pretensions of the 
Archduchess Maria-Theresa, as Queen of Hun- 
garia, against the power of France and the Elector 
of Bavaria; but this regiment was detained in 
Ireland. In the beginning of 1743 the regiment 1743 



22 HISTORICAL RECORDS OF 

1743 furnished a draft of ten men and horses per troop 
to join the regiments of horse on foreign service. 

Lieutenant-General Lord Tyrawley, after com- 
manding the regiment nearly four years, was 
removed to the Colonelcy of the Second Troop of 
Horse Grenadier Guards, and the command of the 
Fifth Horse was conferred on Colonel John 
Brown from the Ninth Dragoons, his commission 
bearing date the 1st of April, 1743. 

1 744 In the beginning of the folloAving year another 
draft of men and horses was sent on foreign service. 

1745 In April, 1745, the regiment was reviewed at 
Maryborough by Major- General de Grangues ; and 
after the rebellion headed by Charles Edward, 
eldest son of the Pretender, broke out in Scotland, 
this regiment was ordered to Dublin, and the 
army in Ireland was placed in dispersed canton- 
ments near the coast to resist any descent which 
might be attempted upon the island. 

1746 After the suppression of the rebellion in Scot- 
land, three of the four regiments oi Horse in Eng- 
land were reduced to the quality oi Dragoons (25th 
December, 1746), and styled Dragoon Guards, 
and this regiment obtained the designation of the 
First Irish Horse. The regiments of horse on 
the Irish establishment (now the 4th, 5th, 6th, and 
7th Dragoon Guards) were frequently designated 
by the colour of their facings ; the First being 
frequently called the Blue Horse ; the Second the 
Green Horse ; the Third, the Carabiniers ; and 
the Fourth the Black Horse. 

1748 A treaty of peace was concluded with France 
and Bavaria at Aix-la-Chapelle in the winter of 
1748-9; and, while the negociations were in 



THE FOURTH DRAGOON GUARDS. 23 

progress, the establishment of the First Irish 1748 
Horse (with that of all other regiments of horse 
and dragoons in Ireland) was reduced to twenty- 
one private men per troop. 

On the 1st of July, 1751, a warrant was issued 1751 
under the sign-manual, regulating the uniform, 
colours, and standards of the regiments of the line, 
from which the following particulars are extracted 
respecting the First Irish Horse. 
Hats — Ornamented with silver lace, and a black 

cockade. 
Coats — Scarlet, faced and lappelled with pale 
blue, button-holes worked with white, 
white metal buttons set on two and two, 
and a long slash pocket in each skirt. 
Waistcoats and Breeches — Pale blue. 
Cloaks — Red, lined with pale blue, and the but- 
tons set on two and two, on white frogs, 
or loops. 
Horse Furniture — Pale blue, with a border 
of broad white mohair lace, having a 
scarlet stripe down the centre, and h 
embroidered on a red ground, within a 
wreath of roses and thistles, on each 
holster-cap and on each corner of the 
housing. 
Standards — The King's, or First Standard, to 
be of crimson damask, embroidered and 
fringed with gold and silver ; in the 
centre the rose and thistle conjoined and 
crown over them, and the motto Dieu et 
mon Droit underneath ; the white 
horse in a compartment in the first and 



24 HISTORICAL RECORDS OF 

1751 fourth corners, and h in silver character 

on a pale blue ground in a compartment 
in the second and third corners. The 
second and third Standard to be of pale 
blue damask ; in the centre the rank of 
the regiment in silver Roman characters, 
on a crimson ground, within a wreath of 
roses and thistles; the white horse on a 
red ground in the first and fourth com- 
partments, and the rose and thistle con- 
joined upon a red ground in the second 
and third compartments. 

Officers — Distinguished by silver lace, coats 
bound with silver embroidery, the button- 
holes worked with silver, and a crimson 
silk sash worn over the left shoulder. 

Quarter3IASTERs — To wear a crimson sash round 
the waist. 

Corporals — To have narrow silver lace on the 
lappels, cuffs, pockets, and shoulder- 
strops. 

Kettle - Drummers and Trumpeters — 
Clothed in pale blue, faced and turned 
up with red, with long hanging sleeves 
fastened at the waist ; red waistcoats 
and breeches ; and the lace to be white 
with a red stripe. 

1753 In May, 1753, the regiment was reviewed by 
Major- General Blyth at Carlow, and immediately 

1754 afterwards marched to Dublin; in 1754 it was 
reviewed by the Earl of Rothes at Philipstown. 

1756 During the summer of 1756 detachments from 
the regiments of horse and dragoons in Ireland, 



THE FOURTH DRAGOON GUARDS. 25 

with the whole of the Second and Third Regiments 1 756 
of Horse, were encamped at Kilkenny, with the 
view of establishing a uniform system of drill and 
manoeuvre in the cavalry. 

Another war having commenced with France, 1759 
some preparations were made in 1759 to resist a 
menaced descent in Ireland by 28,000 French 
under the Duke of Aguillion, and the First 
Irish Horse were directed to hold themselves in 
readiness to march on the shortest notice. 

In the early part of December of this year the 
regiment was employed in suppressing riots in 
Dublin, occasioned by a supposition that an union 
with England was in contemplation. The rioters 
broke into the House of Lords, and committed 
other outrages, but were eventually suppressed. 

The regiment furnished a draft of twelve men 176O 
and horses, in February, 1760, to complete the 
Third and Fourth Horse to forty-nine men per 
troop, previous to their embarkation for Germany ; 
and another draft of twenty-two men was ordered 
in the spring of 1762. During the latter year the 1762 
regiment was directed to recruit in Ireland, the 
cavalry corps having, previously to this period, 
usually procured recruits from England. In a few 
years afterwards the ranks of the First Irish 
Horse were composed almost exclusively of 
Irishmen. 

Lieut- General Brown died in the summer of this 
year, and was succeeded in the Colonelcy of the 
regiment by Colonel James Johnston, from the 
Lieut- Colonelcy of the Royal Horse Guards, by 
commission dated the 3rd of August, 1762. 

At this period commotions and tumults prevailed 



26 HISTORICAL RECORDS OF 

1762 in various parts of Ireland to a most alarming ex- 
1763 tent; and in the beginning of 1763 the troops 
were employed in assisting the high sheriffs and 
magistrates in dispersing and securing bands of 
rioters known by the name of levellers. The 
head- quarters of the First Horse were at Car- 
low, and detachments were furnished to assist the 
civil power. In May, 1763, the regiment proceded 
to Dublin ; in July it was ordered to march to the 
county of Monaghan to form escorts for the judges 
in their circuits ; and subsequently Lieutenant- 
Colonel Roberts (commanding the regiment at 
Monaghan) was directed to furnish such detach- 
ments as Charles Coote, Esq., justice of the peace, 
should require to suppress riots, the county of 
Cavan being in a very disturbed state. 

A treaty of peace having been concluded with 
France, the two regiments of horse returned from 
Germany, and the establishment of this regiment 
was reduced to twenty private men per troop. 
1764 The regiment was again employed on Dublin 
duty in 1764,* and while there, orders were re- 
ceived for all the regiments of horse and dragoons, 
excepting the light dragoons, to be mounted on 
long-tailed horses ; all the English horse and dra- 
goons were originally mounted on long-tailed 
horses, but the fashion of the short dock was intro- 

* While the regiment was on Dublin duty the following curious 
order was received. 

• Dublin, Z\st January, 1764. 
' Lieuten ant-General Fowkes recommends to the officers of the 
' garrison that they would not play at the castle whilst on duty; 
' and that the officers of the Horse Guards will avoid mixing with 
* the ladies in the drawing-room, on account of the inconveniency 
' of spurs to the ladies' hoop petticoats. 

(Signtd) ' D. Grant, Captain 52nd Reg., 

' for the Major of Brigade.' 



THE FOURTH DRAGOON GUARDS. 27 

duced about the close of the seventeenth and 1764 
beginning of the eighteenth centuries.* The re- 
giment was also directed to discontinue the white 
lace on the button-holes of the waistcoat. 

The regiment having been relieved from Dublin 1765 
duty, its head-quarters were established in January, 
1765, at TuUamore, from whence it marched in 
July to Birr, Maryborough, and Mount Mellick. 
In December of this year a ration of forage was 
fixed at 28 lbs. of hay, 7 lbs. of oats, and 6 lbs. of 
straw. During the following year the establish- 1766 
ment of the regiment was reduced to 19 private 
men per troop. 

In January 1767 the First Horse were again 1757 
stationed at Dublin ; and were reviewed in the 
fifteen-acres in Phoenix Park on the 22nd of that 
month, by the Earl of Granard, who was pleased 
to express his approbation of their appearance 
and discipline. They were withdrawn from Dub- 
lin in May, and proceeded to Carlow, but re- 
turned in the following month ; and in December 
marched to Philipstown. Sword-belts suspended 
across the right shoulder, which had been used 
by the horse more than half a century, were this 
year adopted by the dragoons. 

From Philipstown the regiment removed to 176S 
TuUamore, where its head-quarters were esta- 
blished in the beginning of 1768. In a return of 
the distinctions of the regiment in Ireland, dated in 
February of this year, the First Horse are stated 

* It has been stated that the troop-horses' tails were first 
docked in 1698; but the practice did not become general until 
ten years afterwards. 



28 HISTORICAL RECORDS OF 

1768 to have deep blue facings, huff waistcoats and 
breeches, white lace, and ivhite metal buttons ."^ 

On the 24th of May the regiment was reviewed 
by JMaj or- General Lambert ; and in June the head- 
quarters were removed from Tullamore to Mary- 
borough, where the regiment was revieAved on 
the 9tli of June, 1769, by the Earl of Drogheda. 

1769 Some alterations were this year (1769) made in 
the uniform of the regiment ; — the coats were 
made with half-lappels, a red stripe was intro- 
duced into the lace, and the colour of the horse- 
furniture was changed from light to dark blue. 
The cavalry officers were directed to wear their 
sashes with the fringe upon the right side, and 
the infantry officers upon the left, and the officers 
of the regiments of horse were directed to wear 
their sword-belts across the right shoulder, over 
the waistcoat and under the coat. 

] 770 A change of cantonments, took place during the 
winter, and in January, 1770, the head-quarters of 
the regiment were at Kilkenny ; but they were 
again established at Maryborough in July. 

1771 In the summer of 1771 the regiment marched 
to Dublin, and was reviewed by the Lord-Lieu- 
tenant in July, in the Phoenix Park.f After 
performing duty at the capital until December, it 

* Seethe Royal Warrant of the 19th December, 1768. 

t Previous to reviews at this period a set of movements were 
fixed on by the Lord-Lieutenant, and ordered to be performed in 
his presence ; the movements of the First Horse on this occasion 
were : — Salute — march past by squadrons — ditto by fours — dis- 
movmt — manual exercise — march past by divisions— ditto by files 
— mount — cavalry evolutions — form line to the right twice — 
wheel to the right about — form line to the left twice — wheel to 
the left about — form two columns by quarter ranks from the 
centre of each squadron — double up to half-ranks— form squad- 



THE FOURTH DRAGOON GUARDS, 29 

marched into country quarters, and occupied for 1771 
short periods Tullamore, Philipstown, Carlow, ^^"^^ 
and Maryborough, during the three succeeding- jrr-,^ 
years; and in the summer of 1775 was again 1775 
stationed at Dublin. 

Major- General Johnston having been removed 
to the 11th Dragoons, His Majesty conferred the 
Colonelcy of the First Horse on Major-General 
James Johnston (cousin of the former colonel of 
the same name), from the Ninth Dragoons, by 
commission dated the 27th of April, 1775. 

The British colonies in North America having 1776 
rebelled against the mother- country, the regiment 
furnished in February, 1776, a draft of sixteen 
troop-horses to be sent to North America and em- 
ployed in that country as the service required ; 
180 horses were sent from the cavalry corps in 
Ireland, and 16 guineas were allowed to the regi- 
ment for each horse. In July an augmentation of 
one corporal and 10 private men per troop was 
made to the establishment ; parties of mounted 
men were sent out to enlist recruits, and directions 
were given that none but Protestants be engaged. 

In the beginning of 1777 the regiment was 1777 



rons — file from the right of fours — form squadrons — file from the 
left of fours — form squadrons — by fours to the right about — file 
from the right of fours — form to the rear — by fours to the right 
about — form four squadrons — wheel the line — charge — retreat 
by files from the right — form to the front — form two hues opposite, 
by squadrons wheeling outwards — charge through the intervals — 
form two columns to the rear by each line wheeling by squadrons 
inwards — squadrons wheel to the front — form two squadrons — 
advance — form six squadrons — form two columns on the centre 
squadrons — form line — charge — retreat by three squadrons, the 
three others supporting — move to the right to gain a flank — form 
and charge — form two squadrons— centre troops advance and 
pursue — retire and form in the rear of their own squadrons — 
charge — take ground to both flanks and rear by fours — charge — 
retreat by fours— form line — advance — halt — general salute. 



30 HISTORICAL RECORDS OF 

1777 again in cantonments in the country, the head- 
quarters being at Castlebar, from whence they were 
removed in June to Roscommon, &c,, but returned 

1778 to Castlebar in the winter, and in May, 1778, pro- 
ceeded to Birr, where the regiment was reviewed, 
on the 24th of that month, by Major-General De 
Burgh. While at this station the officers were 
ordered to provide themselves with tents, and to be 
in constant readiness to take the field. In June 
the head-quarters were removed to Belfast, in July 
to Armagh, and in September returned to Belfast. 

In April, 1778, Lieutenant-General James John- 
ston was removed to the Enniskillen Dragoons, 
and was succeeded in the command of the First 
Horse by Major-General George Warde,from the 
14th Dragoons. 

1779 On the 1st of June, 1779, the regiment marched 
to Lisburn, and in July the head-quarters were 

1780estabhshed at Belturbet. At this station they 

1781 appear to have remained until July, 1781, when 
they were removed to Athlone, where the regiment 
was reviewed by Major-General Massey on the 
2nd of August, and soon afterwards proceeded to 
Dublin, but in November returned to Athlone. 

1782 The regiment was again reviewed by Major- 
General Massey, on the 21st of June, 1782, at 
Athlone, from whence it marched, in a few days 

1783 afterwards, to Mount Mellick, and, in January of 
the following year, to Dublin. 

1784 From Dublin the regiment proceeded, in July, 
1784, to Tullamore. Its establishment, at this 
period, was 21 officers, 174 non-commissioned 
officers and private soldiers, and 133 troop-horses; 
but the American war having been terminated by 
acknowledging the independence of the United 



THE FOURTH DRAGOON GUARDS. 81 

States, the numbers of the regiment were reduced ] 784 
10 men per troop. 

Major-General Sir Henry Calder reviewed the 1785 
regiment at Tullamore on the 4th of June, 1785, 
and on the 9th it marched to Nenagh, from whence 
a detachment of one corporal and six private men 
was sent to Dublin, where parties from every 
cavalry regiment in Ireland were assembled to 
establish an uniform system of horsemanship. 

After remaining upwards of a year at Nenagh, 178G 
the regiment marched, in July, 1786, to Carlo w, 
where it passed the succeeding twelve months, and 
in July, 1787, proceeded to Longford. 1787 

While at this station, His Majesty's commands 1788 
were conveyed to the regiment for converting it 
from a corps of Horse into a corps of Dra- 
goons, with the title of Dragoon Guards. 
The following is a copy of the order for this 
change : — 

' GENERAL ORDER. 

' Adjutant' GeneraPs Office, Dublin, 
' 14th Feb., 1788. 

' It is His Majesty's pleasure that the four 

' regiments of Horse on this establishment be 

' converted to Dragoon 

First Horse , „ ,. . 

^0 * (jrUARDs, according to the 

Fourth Dragoon Guards, ' number specified in the 

Second Horse . margin : this regulation to 

Fifth Dragoon Guards, ' take effect from the 1st of 

Third Horse ' April next inclusive ; and, 

^ ^° ^ 'in consequence of the 

Sixth Dragoon Guards, . '■ f, , it i 

and ' alteration of the establish- 

Fourth Horse ' ment of the regiments of 

o 1^ ^^ r^ ' horse. His Majesty has 

Seventh Dragoon Guards. •'. '' 

' been pleased to direct that 



32 HISTORICAL RECORDS OF 

1788' compensation shall be made to every officer of 
' the four regiments of horse, for the reduced pay 
' of each, of which a proper scheme shall be made 
' known as soon as the same can be digested. His 
' Majesty has also been pleased to signify, that, 
' in the change now proposed, it is not intended 
' that any injury shall be sustained by the 
' Colonels of the regiments, and that a compensa- 
' tion will be made to them for any reduction of 
' pay or emolument they may suffer by the change ; 
* and also, that they will be reimbursed such 
' reasonable extra expense as will be necessary for 
' altering their present accoutrements, as likewise 
' for the clothes, accoutrements, &c., of the aug- 
' mented numbers, proper estimates of which will 
' be immediately delivered to the Commander-in- 
' Chief, to be laid before his Excellency the Lord 
' Lieutenant. 

' Such men of the regiments of horse as choose 
' to re-enlist will receive a bounty of two guineas, 
' excepting such corporals as shall be made ser- 
' jeants, and, in consequence, have their pay 
' advanced. I am to inform you that in all other 
' respects the regiments of Dragoon Guards are 
' to conform to all His Majesty's regulations 
' relative to the regiments of Dragoons. 

' William Fawcett, 
' Adjutant- General .' 

The compensation granted to the Colonel of the 
Fourth Dragoon Guards was 150/. per annum 
for life, with 180/. 10*. for the alterations in the 
equipment ; the Lieut.- Colonel received 575/. ; 
Major, 525/. ; Captains, each 475/. ; Captain- 
Lieutenant and Lieutenants, 350/. ; and the 
Cornets each 250/. 



THE FOURTH DRAGOON GUARDS. 33 

The establishment of the regiment was fixed at 1788 

I colonel and captain, 1 lieutenant-colonel and 
captain, 1 major and captain, 3 captains, 6 lieu- 
tenants, 6 cornets, 1 chaplain, 1 adjutant, 1 sur- 
geon, 6 quarter-masters, 6 Serjeants, 12 corporals, 
6 trumpeters, 114 private men, and 6 dismounted 
men. The carbines were cut shorter ; the width 
of the belts was reduced from 4^ to 3 inches; 
and the officers were directed to wear their sword- 
belts over their coats when on duty, and when off 
duty over their waistcoats. The standard for re- 
cruits was fixed at from 5 feet 8^ inches, to 5 feet 

II inches. 

The necessary alterations having been com- 
pleted, and the regiment constituted the Fourth 
Dragoon Guards, its head-quarters were esta- 
blished at Belturbet ; and on the 18th of April 
His Majesty was graciously pleased to approve of 
its bearing the title of the Royal Irish Regi- 
ment OF Dragoon Guards, in consideration of 
its long and faithful services in Ireland*. 

From Belturbet the regiment marched on the 1790 
1st of May, 1790, for Dublin, where it was 
reviewed on the 20th of August by Major- General 

* ' Adjutant- Generars Office, I'ith April, 1788. 
' Dear Sir, 

' Having had the honour of laying yesterday before His 
' Majesty your request that the Fourth Regiment of Dragoon 
' Guards, late the First Regiment of Horse, under your com- 
' mand, might bear the title of Royal Irish Regiment of 
' Dragoon Guards, I have the pleasure to acquaint you that 
' His Majesty has been graciously pleased to grant his royal 
' permission for the same. 

* I am, &c. 
' William Fawcett, Adjutant- General. 
' Lieut. -General George Warde, 
' Colonel of the Fourth Regt. 
' of Dragoon Guards.' 



34 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 

1791 Lyon, and in August, 1791, by Major-General 
White, and again by the same officer in May, 

1792 1792. In July of the latter year it marched from 
Dublin to Carlow. 

1793 During the period the regiment lay at Carlow, 
the violent republicans of France, Avho had pre- 
viously overturned the ancient form of government 
in that country, were guilty of the atrocious con- 
duct of beheading their King and Queen, and of 
involving the kingdom in scenes of outrage, 
massacre, and devastation. These proceedings 
were followed by a war between Great Britain 
and the regicide Government of France ; and the 
establishment of the Royal Irish Dragoon 
Guards was augmented in August, 1793, to 334 
non-commissioned officers and privates, and 276 
troop horses. 

In the meantime, a British army, commanded by 
His Royal Highness the Duke of York, had pro- 
ceeded to the Netherlands, and the Royal Irish 
Dragoon Guards marched on the 10th of 
August, 1793, for Dublin, where they embarked 
in October for England, in the expectation of 
proceeding to join the Duke of York's army in 
Flanders. 

1794 After its arrival in England, the regiment was 
stationed at Nottingham, and its establishment was 
further augmented to nine troops of 56 men per 
troop. The order for its proceeding on foreign 
service was, however, rescinded, and it was 

1795 directed to return to Ireland. It accordingly 
marched from Nottingham to Liverpool, where it 
embarked in thcAvinter of 1795, and after landing 
at Dublin, halted a short time in that city, and 



THE FOURTH DRAGOON GUARDS. 35 

afterwards proceeded into cantonments in the 1795 
country, the head-quarters being established at 
Belturbet. While stationed at this place, the 
establishment was augmented (1st April, 1796) to 1796 
65 rank and file per troop, making a total of 612 
officers and soldiers. 

The Roman Catholics of Ireland had, for some 
years past, been combining against the British 
government, forming secret associations, and com- 
mitting numerous acts of outrage and murder upon 
the Protestants, and at tliis period they Avere pre- 
paring for open resistance ; a military organization 
was secretly taking place in several counties, — 
fire-arms were procured, and pikes manufactured. 
Several Irishmen of property, who had been impli- 
cated in treasonable practices, had fled to France, 
through whose agency application was made, by 
the disaffected in Ireland, to the French Govern- 
ment, for a force to assist them in breaking their 
connection with England, and in establishing their 
independence as a republic. The French Directory 
cherished a decided antipathy to the British, as a 
people from whose firm determination, constancy 
of purpose, and immense resources the towering- 
expectations of their republic were likely to be 
brought down. The proposal from Ireland was 
consequently acceded to, and an armament was 
prepared at Brest, with transport for 25,000 men, 
to be commanded by General Hoche, The 
assemblage of shipping and troops at Brest, with 
the agitated state of Ireland, occasioned the army 
in that kingdom to be augmented ; and the coun- 
try to be divided into five military districts. On 
the 24th of December the French fleet appeared 

D 2 



36 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 

17% in Bantry Bay. The Royal Irish Dragoon 
Guards Avere immediately despatched to oppose 
the enemy, and had a most harassing march from 
Beltiirbet to Bantry in severe and inclement 
weather. 

Some misunderstanding appears to have oc- 
curred between the French Directory and Irish 
malcontents, respecting the period when the troops 
were to arrive; the Irish were not prepared to 
I'ise at this time, and they were overawed by the 
number of the King's troops near the coast. The 
French fleet was partly dispersed by a storm, and 
the remainder of the force, alarmed at the prepara- 
tions made to oppose their landing, returned to 
France. After the departure of the hostile fleet 
the Fourth Dragoon Guards marched back 
to their former quarters, and occupied Belturbet 
and the adjacent towns. 

1797 In the spring of 1797 the establishment was 
augmented to 703 officers and men, at the same 
time a second Lieut.-Colonel and a second Major 
were added to the regiment. In August of this year 
the Fourth Dragoon Guards encamped on the 
Curragh of Kildare, together with the 5th, 6th, 
and 7th Dragoon Guards, and 5th and 9th Dra- 
goons ; and these corps were reviewed in Septem- 
ber by Lieut-General Sir David Dundas, who 
issued very complimentary orders on the occasion. 
The camp broke up in October, when the regi- 
ment marched to Maryborough, with detachments 
at Mount Mellick and Ballinakill. 

During this year some alterations were made in 
the equipment of the regiment : the large carbines 
Avere exchanged for others of a smaller size ; and 



THE FOURTH DRAGOON GUARDS. 37 

the pair of large pistols for a single pistol; and the ^797 
saddles were also considerably reduced in size. 
Lappels to the coats and silver lace on the men's 
hats were discontinued; and the colour of the 
waistcoats was changed from buff to white. 

In the succeeding year the disaffected in Ireland 17^98 
broke out into open rebellion. Their leaders, 
having received fresh promises of aid from France, 
became confident of having their hopes and wishes 
accomplished, and the 22nd of May, 1798, was 
appointed for a general rising. The government 
had taken measures to meet the coming danger ; 
a numerous yeomanry force was embodied ; the 
regular troops were kept in constant readiness for 
active service ; and, information of the designs of 
the insurgents having been procured, the leaders 
were seized and imprisoned, and the plan of the 
rebellion was disorganized. The passions of the 
misguided peasantry had, however, been wrought 
into fury and madness by all the motives which 
bigotry, hope of personal advantage, and thirst for 
vengeance could inspire, and the rebellion, so long- 
suppressed, broke out with accumulated horrors. 
During the Avhole of its continuance the Royal 
Irish Dragoon Guards were constantly em- 
ployed in this painful and unnatural warfare. 

The regiment, having marched from Mary- 
borough, was detached to the different towns near 
Dublin, where the rebels were in force. Captain 
William Smith's troop was stationed at Naas, 
with a party of fencible cavalry and another of 
Armagh militia. This town was attacked on the 
24th of May by two thousand rebels : their first 
attempt was upon the county jail, where they were 



38 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 

1798 repulsed with great loss ; and they then possessed 
themselves of all the principal avenues to the town, 
and made a simultaneous attack on the posts oc- 
cupied by the troops. The wild and disorderly 
rush of the undisciplined multitude was opposed by 
the troops with firmness, and after a contest of an 
hour's duration, the rebels were repulsed with the 
loss of one-hundred and forty men left dead in the 
streets. The Fourth Dragoon Guards and 
fencibles charged several times and slaughtered 
many of the rebels in the pursuit. The regiment 
had Quarter Master Rowayne and private Hughes, 
with eleven horses killed ; and ten men and a 
number of horses wounded. This loss was occa- 
sioned by the rebel pikemen. 

During the night a party of rebels set fire to the 
barracks at Prosperous, where one officer and 
twenty-eight men of the militia perished : a party 
of the Fourth Dragoon Guards was also sur- 
prised in quarters and nearly every man put to 
death : a few men were taken prisoners and after- 
wards butchered by the insurgents with the most 
inhuman cruelty. A party of fencibles was also 
surprised and murdered at Dunboyne ; and the 
same misfortune befel a party of the Suffolk mi- 
litia escorting baggage to Kildare. A number of 
other towns were attacked : in some instances the 
rebels were successful, in others they were de- 
feated ; and on the 25th, 26th, and 27th of May 
numerous skirmishes occurred, and civil war with 
all its horrors raged in the heart of Ireland. 

A body of rebels attempted to surprise Carlow, 
which was garrisoned l)y detachments of the 
Fourth Dragoon Guards and Ninth Dra- 



THE FOURTH DRAGOON GUARDS. 39 

goons, with some Yeomanry, Militia, and Volun- 1798 
tears, amounting to about 450 men. The rebels 
assembled nearly 3000 strong on the estate of Sir 
William Crosbie, Bart., who led them to the at- 
tack ; and after a sharp conflict they were defeated, 
with the loss of 500 men killed, and many prison- 
ers, including their leader, who was immediately 
tried by martial law and hanged. 

Numerous encounters occurred in other parts of 
the country ; and on the 30th of May a detach- 
ment of the Fourth Dragoon Guards, with a 
party of fencibles and Antrim militia, proceeding 
under the command of Colonel Walpole to join 
Major-General Loftus at Gorey, arrived at a place 
where the road was low and narrow, with high 
clay banks on each side crowded with bushes, and 
beyond them deep trenches, where they were at- 
tacked by an ambush of rebels of overwhelming 
numbers. The cavalry, by repeated charges to 
the front and right, endeavoured to extricate them- 
selves, but their utmost efforts could not avail 
against the immense numbers by which they were 
opposed ; and after an unequal fight of an hour's 
duration, in which their commanding officer. Co- 
lonel Walpole, and many men and horses were 
killed, they were forced to retire, covered by the 
militia, and had the mortification of losing three 
guns. About the same date 15,000 rebels took 
Wexford, and in the beginning of June made an 
attack upon New Ross, but were repulsed.* En- 
raged at this failure, they murdered, at the insti- 



* In this attack Lord Mountjoy was killed. He was the 
second nobleman of that name who fell while serving with this 
Regiment. See the account of the battle of Steenkirk, in 1692, 
page 12. 



40 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 

1798 gation of their priests, 241 Protestant prisoners in 
cold blood, and evinced, in this act, a ferocious 
cruelty not exceeded by the savage barbarians of 
the most uncultivated part of the world. 

On the 4th of June Captain Sir Richard Steel 
engaged, with his troop of the Fourth Dragoon 
Guards, a body of rebels posted at Ovidstowu, 
and the insurgents fought for some time with bra- 
very, but were eventually dispersed with great 
slaughter. The troop had one serjeant, two 
rank and file, and three horses killed ; with nine 
men and a number of horses wounded. Captain 
Sir Richard Steel had his horse killed under him, 
and Avas himself severely wounded. 

About the same period a body of rebels attacked 
the first, or Colonel's, troop of this regiment, at 
Goff's Bridge, when the Dragoon Guards repulsed 
the furious onsets of their reckless opponents with 
signal gallantry, and drove back the insurgents 
with loss. 

Part of the regiment afterwards proceeded to 
Arklow, in the neighbourhood of which place the 
rebels were in great force. On the morning of the 
9th of June, 30,000 insurgents advanced to attack 
the town with three guns and such a multitude of 
pikemen, that they appeared like a moving forest. 
Thrice they attacked the town, headed by their 
priests in clerical vestments, and evinced astonish- 
ing intrepidity ; but were unable to make any im- 
pression on the steady valour of the King's troops, 
though they had an advantage in numbers of twenty 
to one. The celebrated Father Murphy was cut 
in two by a cannon-ball while in the act of heading 
one of the attacks, waving a green flag, and shout- 
ing " Liberty or death." The contest was con- 



THE FOURTH DRAGOON GUARDS. 41 

tinued until evening ; and the Fourth Dragoon 1798 
Guards and Fifth Dragoons repeatedly charged, 
and in every instance routed the rebels with im- 
mense loss. The Fencible regiment of Ancient 
Britons also distinguished itself, and its Colonel, 
Sir W. Williams Wynne, was overpowered, and a 
rebel was in the act of piking him, when Corporal 
James M'Connel, of the Fourth Dragoon 
Guards, rushed forward to his aid, and slew the 
rebel. Captain William Smith also distinguished 
himself at the head of his troop of the Fourth 
Dragoon Guards in a particular manner. About 
eight o'clock in the evening the rebels retreated, 
leaving the ground literally covered with slain, 
their loss being estimated at between 6000 and 
7000 men. 

After repulsing the enemy at Arklow, disposi- 
tions were made for a combined attack of the 
King's forces on the rebels' stronghold at Vinegar 
Hill,* in the neighbourhood of Enniscorthy ; and 
the Royal Irish Dragoon Guards marched to 
the scene of conflict under the orders of Major- 
General Wilford. The design of the Commander- 
in-Chief was to surround the post ; and with this 
view 15,000 men, with artillery in proportion, ad- 
vanced by four different routes. The ^»*6'^ division 
commanded by Lieutenant-General Sir David 



* This eminence had been the scene of the most infamous 
and inhuman proceedings. Here the hapless Protestants seized 
by the rebels were taken and maliciously butchered, after a mock 
trial, and often no trial at all : some were shot, others transfixed 
with pikes, and many were barbarously tortured before their 
final execution. It appears, from unquestionable authority, that 
upwards of 500 Protestants were murdered on this fatal hill ; 
and the priests were the instigators of these horrid religious 
massacres. 



42 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 

1798 Dundas ; the second under Major-Generals Sir 
James Duff and Loftus ; the third under Major- 
General Needham ; and the /owr^^ under Major- 
Generals Johnson and Ross : the last was to attack 
the town of Enniscorthy, situate at the base of the 
hill, and to drive the rebels from thence. The 
troops having arrived at their stations (excepting 
Major-General Needham's division), the attack 
commenced about seven o'clock on the morning of 
the 2 1st of June, with a sharp cannonade. The 
rebels sustained the fire of the artillery and troops 
for nearly two hours, when they gave way and fled 
through the space which should have been occu- 
pied by the third division (hence called Needham's 
gap) in the greatest confusion towards Wexford ; 
the cavalry galloped forward in pursuit, and made 
a dreadful slaughter among the fugitives. In 
their haste to escape from the sabres and bayonets 
of the King's troops, the rebels left behind them 
their cannon (fourteen pieces), with an immense 
quantity of plunder collected from the neighbour- 
ing towns and gentlemen's houses ; also a number 
of muskets, pistols, and swords, and a great quan- 
tity of pikes, scythes, and other implements of 
destruction. The loss of the Fourth Dragoon 
Guards was, four men killed, and ten wounded ; 
besides a number of horses killed and wounded. 
After the action the regiment proceeded to its 
former quarters at Maryborough and Mount-Mel- 
lick, where it was kept in constant readiness for 
further operations ; and detachments were employed 
on various services. 

The remains of the rebel army continued to 
make an unavailing resistance, and endeavoured 



THE FOURTH DRAGOON GUARDS. 43 

to force the passes which separate the counties of 1798 
Wexford and Carlow. On one occasion, a party 
of the Fourth Dragoon Guards and a small 
body of the Wexford militia disputed the passage 
of the river Barrow at Gores Bridge, against an 
overwhelming force of rebels; after displaying 
much intrepidity and heroism, and losing many 
men in killed and wounded, the soldiers were 
overpowered, and 27 taken prisoners: 7 of the 
captives were supposed to be Orangemen, and 
were instantly shot, and their fellow-soldiers were 
forced to be their executioners. 

In July, the Fourth Dragoon Guards 
marched, under the command of Colonel Thewles 
(accompanied by Major-General Sir James Duff), 
to attack, in conjunction with other troops, a con- 
siderable body of rebels who had taken post at 
Kildare. On the advance of the King's forces, 
the insurgents, after a short resistance, set the 
town on fire and retired to a position on the cur- 
ragli of Kildare. Here they were attacked, over- 
powered, and routed by the cavalry, with a loss of 
250 killed and many wounded. Previous to the 
termination of this sanguinary affair, Lieutenant- 
General Sir David Dundas arrived with a body 
of troops, to whom the surviving rebels sur- 
rendered, — the General having authority to give 
protection to such of the insurgents as should lay 
down their arms and return to their allegiance. 

From this period the rebellion may be consi- 
dered suppressed ; some of the most obstinate of 
the rebels, however, continued in a body and com- 
mitted many enormities; and the French endea- 
voured to revive the conflict by sending General 



44 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 

1798 Humbert, with upwards of 1000 men, all despe- 
rate characters, who landed at Killala on the 22nd 
of August. The Fourth Dragoon Guards were 
immediately ordered to march for Connaught, but 
the French having been made prisoners, the order 
was countermanded, and the regiment returned to 
its quarters at Maryborough. Thus was this un- 
natural contest terminated ; but the repeated atro- 
cities of the Catholics led to equally frightful reta- 
liations, and the sanguinary hatred engendered by 
religious antipathy and a thirst for revenge pro- 
duced a fearful catalogue of crime after the rebels 
were subdued. The loss of the insurgents during 
this rebellion has been estimated at 50,000 men, 
and that of the royalists at 19,000 men. 

1799 Scarcely Avere the troubles in Ireland terminated 
and the country restored to tranquillity, when the 
regiment received orders to hold itself in readiness 
for foreign service, and, having marched to Dublin, 
it there received a draught of men and horses from 
the 6th Dragoon Guards. 

Embarking from Dublin in August, 1799, it 
landed at Liverpool, from whence it proceeded by 
forced marches to Northampton, expecting to form 
part of the Anglo-Russian army, destined to at- 
tempt to rescue Holland from the power of France ; 
but the Dutch not seconding the efforts made 
for their deliverance, the troops were Avithdrawn, 
and the Fourth Dragoon Guards continued 
at Northampton during the remainder of that 
year. 

During the summer the regiment received orders 
to cut the horses' tails, which had been worn of the 
natural length since 1764, and the operation occa- 



THE FOURTH DRAGOON GUARDS. 45 

sioned the loss of several valuable horses, which 1799 
died of locked-jaw. 

In the beginning of the following year the esta- ISOO 
blishment was augmented to ten troops, and the 
total numbers to 830 ofhcers and men. In Feb- 
ruary the regiment marched from Northampton 
for Scotland, and on its arrival occupied Hamilton 
barracks ; in the autumn it proceeded to Edin- 
burgh, where it remained nearly two years. 

After the conclusion of the peace of Amiens with iS02 
the French government, the establishment of the 
Fourth Dragoon Guards was reduced to eight 
troops, and the total numbers to 550 officers and 
soldiers and 500 troop horses. In August, 1802, 
the regiment proceeded to Ireland, and, having 
landed at Donaghadee, it occupied Belturbet, Long- 
ford, and Enniskillen, This year the length of the 
skirts of the men's coats was reduced, and the blue 
half-lappels discontinued. 

The peace, ratified in 1802, did not long ' dif- 1803 
fuse its blessings o'er the land.' The First Consul 
of France, Napoleon Bonaparte, soon found oppor- 
tunities to violate the conditions of a treaty which 
he never intended should be permanent, — merely 
wishing to have the army of Great Britain dis- 
banded or reduced to a peace establishment, to 
further his hostile views against the country ; and 
he ventured to make preparations to invade Eng- 
land. Happily his designs were frustrated; the 
spirit and energy of the British people were soon 
roused; an extraordinary feeling of patriotism 
pervaded the whole country, — the regular army 
was augmented, — the militia called out, — the yeo- 
manry and volunteers enrolled, — and in a few months 



46 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 

1803 a force of 500,000 men was prepared for any emer- 
gency. Bonaparte's threat of invasion soon eva- 
porated, his proud spirit quailed before such a 
mighty preparation, and he feared to attempt the 
shores of Britain Avith his legions. The establish- 
ment of the Fourth Dragoon Guards was 
augmented on this occasion to 670 oflSicers and 
soldiers. 

After a service of sixty years the veteran Gene- 
ral, George Warde, died (11th March, 1803) in 
the 78th year of his age, and was succeeded in the 
Colonelcy of the Royal Irish Dragoon Guards 
by Major-General Miles Staveley, whose regiment, 
the 28th, or Duke of York's own Light Dragoons, 
had been disbanded a few months previously to this 
period. 

In April of this year (1803) the regiment 
marched to Longford and adjacent towns ; and 
the efficiency of the corps was increased by the 
addition of three Captains to the establishment, 
which released the Field Officers from the charge 
of troops. 

On the 16th December Captain Charles Dodg- 
son, who commanded the troop at Philipstown, went 
in search of an outlaw, for whose apprehension the 
government had offered a large reward : arriving 
at the ruins of an old castle, where the rebel had 
established himself, the captain summoned him to 
surrender : he refused, and instantly fired at the 
captain, and so severely wounded him as to occasion 
his death in a few moments. This murder caused 
a great feeling of regret in the regiment, by which 
Captain Dodgson was much beloved. 
1804 In the spring of the following year it marched 



THE FOURTH DRAGOON GUARDS. 47 

to Dublin, and embarked for England ; and, after 1804 
landing at Liverpool, marched to Exeter, Truro, 
Totness, and Honiton ; and in December, 44 men 
and 80 horses were added to the establishment. 

The regiment quitted Devonshire and Cornvrall 1805 
in the spring of 1805, for Kent, and was assem- 
bled at Canterbury in May. On the 23rd of 
August it was inspected by His Royal Highness 
the Duke of York, and was honoured with his 
royal approbation of the appearance and discipline 
of the regiment. It was also inspected, on the 4th 
of October, by its Colonel, Major- General Staveley, 
who expressed great satisfaction at its condition. 
During its stay at Canterbury its establishment 
was augmented to 769 men and 769 troop horses. 

In September of this year a regulation was esta- 
blished in the regiment, for each man to pay I*, 
per month, and the sums thus produced to be in- 
vested in the public funds, and to be designated St. 
Patrick's Fund. From this fund every soldier, after 
a continued contribution for twelve years or up- 
wards, was to receive, on his discharge, either the 
whole amount of his subscription, or a yearly pen- 
sion, according to a fixed scale. Great advantages 
have accrued to the men of the regiment from this 
excellent institution. There are now (1838) 36 
pensioners upon the fund, and the highest upon the 
list receives 6/. I*. Qd. annually, after twenty- seven 
years' contribution. The stock amounts to 3350/. 
reduced 3 per cent, annuities. 

The regiment quitted Canterbury in December, 1806 
on route for Scotland ; and in February, 1806, was 
established in quarters at Piershill barracks, Edin- 
burgh, with Hamilton and Glasgow; but it was 



48 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 

1806 recalled to England in a few weeks afterwards, and 
occupied Manchester, Liverpool, and Chester. 

On the 8th of August two troops were inspected 
at Liverpool by His Royal Highness the Duke of 
Gloucester, accompanied by the Duke of Clarence 
(afterwards King William IV.) ; their RoyalHigh- 
nesses also saw the whole regiment at Manchester 
on the 25th of September, and expressed their ap- 
probation of its appearance and discipline in the 
most flattering terms.* 

While the reeriment was stationed in Lancashire 

n 

its establishment was augmented to ten troops ; 
and the total numbers to 904 officers and soldiers, 
and 854 troop horses. 

1807 The regiment was reviewed on the 9th of June, 
1807, at Manchester, by Major-General Fisher; 
and in the following month two troops marched to 
Nottingham : in the autumn the regiment occu- 
pied quarters at Birmingham (head -quarters), 
Nottingham, Coventry, Manchester, Liverpool, 
Chester, and Warrington. 

1808 In the summer of the following year great ex- 
citement prevailed in the manufacturing towns in 
Lancashire and the adjoining counties ; and in 
May a serious riot took place at Manchester, in 
consequence of a bill, fixing the minimum of wages, 

* When this part of the record was read to King William IV. 
at the Royal Pavilion, Brighton, on the 9th day of November, 
1835, His Majesty observed : — ' I recollect perfectly well inspect- 
' ing the squadron at Liverpool with the Duke of Gloucester, and 
' I think they were the finest men and horses I ever saw. In a 
• short time afterwards we went to see the regiment at Manches- 
' ter, and were equally pleased with the whole. It is a long time 
' ago now, but the circumstance is fresh in my memory.* His 
Majesty directed Colonel Chatterton to make a note of this in the 
record. 



THE FOURTH DRAGOON GUARDS. 49 

having been rejected by parliament : so great was 1808 
the violence of the rioters, that the Fourth Dra- 
goon Guards and militia were obliged to use 
violent means, and unfortunately eight men were 
killed and several wounded. This severity did 
not, however, prevent another body of weavers 
assembling on the 1st of June, and committing 
many acts of violence and outrage ; and the cavalry 
was again obliged to act. The weavers of other 
towns were equally outrageous ; and at Rochdale 
they attacked and burnt the prison, and were only 
prevented committing further mischief by the ar- 
rival of a troop of the Royal Irish Dragoon 
Guards from Manchester. 

The disturbed state of the manufacturing towns, 
and the numerous calls of the civil authorities for 
the aid of a military force, occasioned much harass- 
ing duty to the regiment throughout the summer, 
and these services were rendered particularly pain- 
ful to the troops, from the necessity of frequently 
using coercive measures to restrain the lawless 
violence of the people. 

In November Major- General Pigott inspected 
the regiment at Birmingham, and expressed him- 
self gratified at finding it so effective after the se- 
vere duties on which it had been employed. 

During this year the men's hair, which had 
been worn long and tied behind with a queue, was 
ordered to be cut short; and in 1809 the use of 1809 
powder to the hair was abolished. An order was 
also received for the appointment of troop serjeant- 
majors in the place of troop quartermasters, when 
vacancies occurred. A reduction of one hundred 



50 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 

1809 horses was also made to the establishment in 1808, 
and again in 1809. 

Numerous changes of quarters took place dur- 

1810 ing the year 1809, and the spring of 1810, and in 
the summer of the latter year the regiment oc- 
cupied York, Leeds, Sheffield, Newcastle, Bever- 
ley, &c. &c. During the autumn and early part 
of the winter of this year (1810) four troops (A. 
B. C. and D.) were employed under Major Ross 
in suppressing the riotous conduct of the workmen 
in the coal-districts in the counties of Northumber- 
land ^.nA Durham, vj\i\ch, after much difficulty and 
painful service, was happily effected to the satis- 
faction of the coal-owners, who presented the regi- 
ment with a handsome Silver Vase, with the 
following inscription : — 

' Presented to the Mess of the Fourth 

* Royal Irish Dragoon Guards, by the Coal- 

* Owners on the rivers Tyne and Wear, as a 

* mark of grateful respect for services performed 
' by a part of that corps, called out in aid of the 
' civil power, in suppressing a riotous combination 

* of their workmen in the year 1810.' 

1811 In November, 1810, and again in May, 1811, 
the regiment was inspected by Major-General 
Vyse, who passed very high encomiums on its 
appearance and discipline. In June following it 
marched to Radipole barracks, where it received 
orders, on the 5th of July, for six troops to be 
held in readiness to proceed on foreign service, 
to join the army commanded by General the 
Earl of Wellington, which was fighting against 
the legions of Bonaparte in Portugal and Spain ; 



THE FOURTH DRAGOON GUARDS. 51 

and the establishment was augmented to 800 troop 1811 
horses. The six troops, amounting to 550 men, 
and 534 horses, under the command of Lieutenant- 
Colonel Sherlock, embarked at Plymouth on the 
24th of July, and, having a quick voyage, landed 
at Lisbon, the capital of Portugal, on the 4th of 
August. 

The allied army under the command of Lord 
Wellington was, at this period, on the frontiers of 
Spain, and the Fourth Dragoon Guards, after 
halting three weeks at the royal barracks at Belem 
to refresh the horses, received orders to march up 
the country and join Major-General Le Merchant's 
brigade of heavy cavalry. Leaving Belem on the 
] st of September, the regiment proceeded by Villa 
Franca and Santarem, to Abrantes — a romantic- 
looking town situate on the summit of a lofty pre- 
cipice on the right bank of the Tagus. 

After occupying Abrantes and the adjacent 
villages a few days, the regiment resumed its 
march, and proceeded by Niza, and Villa Velha, 
to Castello Branco, where it was reviewed by Lord 
Wellington, who expressed his entire approbation 
of the appearance and discipline of the corps, and 
of the excellent quality and condition of the horses, 
and ordered twenty of the lightest to be transferred 
to the regiments of light dragoons. In October 
the regiment marched to Bismula, subsequently 
to Fundao, and from thence to Santa Combadao, 
and after the siege of Ciudad Rodrigo was raised, 
it proceeded into quarters for the winter at Fun- 
dao. 

When the siege of Ciudad Rodrigo was re- 1312 
sumed, the regiment moved forward and formed 

E 2 



52 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 

1812 part of the force employed in covering the opera- 
tion ; and whilst engaged in this service a scarcity 
of forage was so severely experienced, that the 
condition of the horses was much deteriorated. 
After the capture of this fortress by storm on the 
19th of January, 1812, some changes took place 
in the cavalry brigades, and this regiment was 
removed to Major-General Slade's brigade, which 
consisted of the Third and Fourth Dragoon 
Guards and First Royal Dragoons. This bri- 
gade marched to Santa Combadao and adjacent 
villages ; and subsequently proceeded to the Alen- 
tego to join the southern army, and cover the siege 
of the important fortress of Badajoz. Marshal 
Soult advanced with a strong French corps to re- 
lieve the town ; but it was taken by storm (6th 
April) before his arrival. He then retired, leav- 
ing a strong rear-guard at Llerena, towards which 
place the Fourth Dragoon Guards, and other 
cavalry corps, advanced ; and the French troops at 
this place were attacked and defeated on the 11th 
of April, by the British cavalry. 

The brigade, of which the Fourth Dragoon 
Guards formed part, was afterwards attached 
to the army of the south under the command of 
Lieut.-General Sir Rowland Hill, and was em- 
pk)yed in all the operations and movements per- 
formed by that body of troops. 

After the important victory gained by the main 
army under Lord Wellington, on the 22nd of July, 
at Salamanca, the army of the south advanced 
upon Madrid, in wliich city the Fourth Dragoon 
Guards were stationed for several days; at the 
same time Lord Wellington was engaged in the 



THE FOURTH DRAGOON GUARDS. 53 

siege of Burgos. A powerful French army under 1812 
General Clausel having advanced to raise the siege, 
while another army under Marshal Soult, and a 
third under Joseph Bonaparte (who had been ele- 
vated by his brother to the throne of Spain), were 
advancing upon Madrid, Lord Wellington found 
himself unable to cope with the combined forces 
thus assembled to attack him, and he commenced 
retreating upon Salamanca. At the same time Sir 
Rowland Hill's corps withdrew from its forward 
position, and after a long and toilsome retreat the 
whole army was concentrated near Salamanca. 
The French afterwards crossed the Tormes at 
Alba de Tormes, and Lord Wellington retreated 
across the Agueda and entered Portugal. During 
this movement the troops suffered severely from the* 
inclemency of the weather and the want of provi- 
sion : the rain fell in torrents almost the whole of 
the time ; and the bad condition of the roads, added 
to the scanty supply of forage, was particularly in- 
jurious to the cavalry, and occasioned the death of 
many horses of the Fourth Dragoon Guards, 
and other corps. The regiment was ordered into 
quarters at Zarga Maior ; from whence it marched, 
towards the end of December, into cantonments at 
Brozas. 

Several alterations were this year made in the 
clothing and appointments of the regiment : the 
men's coats were altered to short coatees, with 
blue collar and cuffs, and white bar lace with a 
blue cord across the breast; the cocked hat and 
white feather were discontinued, and a brass hel- 
met, having the crest surmounted with long black 
horse -hair, was adopted. The horse appointments 



54 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 

1812 were changed from black to brown leather; the 
leather saddle-bags to a cloth valice ; and sabre- 
taches were mtroduced. 

1813 Strenuous exertions were made during the win- 
ter to render the regiment particularly efficient for 
the ensuing campaign : men, horses, clothing, and 
appointments, arrived from England, and the corps 
was brought into the most perfect condition for the 
held ; when an order was given for four regiments 
of cavalry to transfer their horses to the other corps 
and proceed to England ; and to the extreme re- 
gret of the officers and men, who panted for an 
opportunity to distinguish themselves in action 
with the enemy, the Fourth Dragoon Guards 
was one of the regiments ordered to return home, — 
the other three were the 9th, 11th, and 13th Light 
Dragoons. The commanding-officer, Lieutenant- 
Colonel Sherlock, used his utmost endeavours to 
have the order rescinded, and to obtain permission 
for the regiment to remain on foreign service, but 
without avail; and the only St. Patrick's Day the 
Royal Irish Dragoon Guards ever hailed with 
sorrowful feelings was the one which brought the 
order for the surrender of their horses to other 
corps, and for their ceasing to form part of the 
army under Lord Wellington's command. 

Having transferred 220 horses to the First 
Royal Dragoons, and 110 to the Third Dragoon 
Guards, the dismounted men proceeded to Lisbon, 
where they embarked for Portsmouth, and after 
their arrival marched to Hilsea barracks. On the 
3rd of June they re-embarked at Portsmouth, and 
proceeded by sea to Hull, and from thence to 
York, where the four depot troops and heavy bag- 



THE FOURTH DRAGOON GUARDS. 55 

gage joined under the command of Major Ogil vie, 1813 
from Canterbury. 

During the period the regiment was serving in 
Portugal and Spain, it sustained, from change of 
climate, sickness, fatigue, privation, and other 
causes arising out of the arduous duties in which 
it had been employed, a loss of 239 men, and 445 
horses. 

While on foreign service a schoolmaster-serjeant 
was added to the corps, and that excellent institu- 
tion, the regimental school, was established under 
the auspices of His Royal Highness the Duke of 
York, whose kind care and attention to the inte- 
rests and welfare of the soldiers on numerous occa- 
sions renders the'memory of His Royal Highness 
dear to every individual of the British army. 

In October of this year (1813) the regiment 
was inspected at York by Major-General Cheney, 
who expressed great satisfaction at its appearance. 
In the following spring it occupied quarters at 1814 
York, Sheffield, Newcastle, and Durham; from 
whence it marched, in May, in divisions for Edin- 
burgh, and was there inspected by Major-General 
Sir Granby Calcraft on the 29th and 30th of that 
month : one squadron was afterwards stationed 
at Haddington. 

In the mean time the legions of Bonaparte had not 
only been driven out of Spain, but he had also lost 
that immense accession of territory which had been 
acquired by the armies of France since the revolu- 
tion; and even the capital of their country had 
fallen into the hands of the allied powers, who had 
removed the tyrant of Europe, the perfidious 
Emperor Napoleon, from his throne, and sent him 



56 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 

1814 into exile, and had restored the Bourbon dynasty. 
Thus tranquillity was restored in Christendom 
under circumstances which warranted the antici- 
pation of a long period of peace and prosperity to 
the nations of Europe. The strength of the 
British army was consequently diminished, and the 
establishment of the Fourth Dragoon Guards 
was reduced to eight troops, and the total to 545 
men and 453 horses. 

Soon after this reduction had been made in its 
numbers, the regiment was ordered to proceed to 
Ireland ; it embarked at Port Patrick in the 
middle of August, and after landing at Donagha- 
dee, it occupied Belturbet, Longford, Enniskillen, 
Sligo and Mullingar. 

Lieut- General Miles Staveley, who had held the 
Colonelcy of the regiment upwards of eleven years, 
died in September, 1814; and was succeeded by 
Lieut. -General Sir Henry Fane, G.C.B., by com- 
mission dated the 3rd of the following month. 

A slight alteration was this year made in the 
uniform : the bars of white lace across the breast 
were discontinued, and two broad stripes of white 
lace with a blue worm were placed down the front 
of the coat and upon the cuffs; the jacked-leather 
boots were also replaced by others of a lighter 
description called Hessian boots ; — the white plush 
breeches, by white web pantaloons ; and a blue 
and white girdle (or sash) was adopted for the 
men. 
1815 The anticipations of a lengthened peace vanished 
in the spring of 1815, and the long- wished for 
repose of Europe was disturbed by Bonaparte, 
who violated the conditions of his treaties and 



THE FOURTH DRAGOON GUARDS. 57 

engagements, quitted the island of Elba, and once 1815 
more trod the soil of France. His former asso- 
ciates in war flocked to his banner ; his advance 
was rapid and decisive ; Louis XVIII. was forced 
to vacate his newly-acquired throne and fly to the 
Netherlands; and the edicts of Napoleon were 
again issued from the Tuilleries. He was now 
singly opposed to nearly the whole of Europe; 
and, with the hardihood of desperation, lie braved 
the resentment of the united powers. The Royal 
Irish Dragoon Guards were not fortunate 
enough to be again called on foreign service : but, 
every power in Christendom increasing the 
strength of its armies, the establishment of this 
regiment was augmented ten men per troop, and 
subsequently a further addition of 48 men and 128 
horses was made to its numbers. 

The battle of Waterloo disposed of Bonaparte 
and his legions, and a few days of contest sufficed ta 
re-establish the tranquillity of Europe. The peace 
then restored has continued, with the exception of 
commotions in particular kingdoms, to shed its 
benign influence over Christendom for a longer 
period than on any former occasion during the two 
preceding centuries ; and knowledge, refinement, 
arts, and manufactures have advanced to a state 
beyond that to which they ever previously 
attained. 

The head -quarters of the regiment were re- 
moved from Belturbet to TuUamore in April, 
1815; and various changes took place in the 
stations of the detached troops*. 

* During this year, 1815, the white web pantaloons andHessian 
boots, were replaced by dark-coloured cloth overalls and short 
boots. 



58 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 

1815 The peace of Europe having been re-established, 
the strength of the regular army was reduced, and 

1816 in August, 1816, the numbers of the Fourth 
Dragoon Guards were decreased to 493 men 
and 333 horses. 

1817 In February, 1817, the head-quarters of the 
regiment were removed to Dublin, and detach- 
ments were stationed at Tullamore, Longford, 
Kavan, Philipstown, and five other places. 

1818 The regiment assembled at Dublin in June, 
1818, and having embarked for England, landed 
at Bristol in the early part of July, and occupied 
Radipole barracks, with two troops at Bristol, and 
one at Taunton ; and furnished a strong detachment 
on revenue duty on the coast. In the autumn the 
head-quarters were removed to Nottingham, and 
the detached troops occupied Northampton and 
Leicester. The regiment was inspected at this 
station by Major-General Bolton, in October ; 
and again in May of the following year. In 
December, 1818, the establishment was reduced 
to 405 men and 273 horses. 

1819 A change of quarters took place in June and 
July, 1819, and the regiment was stationed at 
York, Sheffield, Leeds, and Huddersfield. In the 
middle of August five troops were employed in 
suppressing riots at Leeds ; and in September one 
troop proceeded to Durham, in consequence of 
some commotions among the people of that city. 

A further alteration was made in the uniform 
this year : the coats were made with long skirts, 
with four bars of white lace with a blue worm 
upon the sleeves, two bars on each side of the 
collar ; and four bars, two rows in each bar, across 
the breast. The colour of the cloth overalls was 



THE FOURTH DRAGOON GUARDS. 59 

changed to blue- grey, with a blue stripe down the 1819 
outside of the leg. The officers wore aiguillettes 
on the right shoulder, and a stripe of silver lace on 
their overalls. 

The decease of His Majesty King George III. 1820 
having taken place on the 29th of January, 1820, 
on the 31st of that month the troops of the Fourth 
Dragoon Guards at head-quarters attended the 
Lord Mayor, corporation, and societies of the city 
of York in solemn procession, while making pro- 
clamation of the accession of King George IV. ; 
and on the 8th of February, 1820, they marched in 
procession at 8 o'clock, p.m., in funeral order to 
York minster, where a solemn dirge and funeral 
service was performed on the death of King 
George III. 

On the 11th of April three troops marched from 
York to assist the civil power in suppressing some 
serious disturbances which had occurred in the 
neighbourhood of Wakefield. A collision after- 
wards took place with the rioters near Sheffield, 
when one sergeant, one private, and two horses 
were wounded with pikes, many of which were 
found in possession of the people. 

Another change of quarters took place in 
August of this year, and the regiment was 
stationed at Newcastle upon Tyne, Carlisle, Pen- 
rith, and Whitehaven ; and in October it was 
inspected by Major-General Sir Andrew Barnard, 
at Newcastle. In March, 1821, it marched to 1821 
Scotland, and was stationed at Piershill barracks, 
Edinburgh, Greenock, Irvine, and Ayr. On the 
6th of June it was inspected by Major-General 
Sir Thomas Bradford ; and, in August, the esta- 



60 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 

1821 blisliment was reduced to six troops. Previous to 
tliis date the troops were classed according to the 
colour of the horses, and the regiment consisted 
of two black troops, two brown, two baj^ one bright 
bay, and one chestnut ; when this reduction was 
ordered, the horses of one of the black troops, and 
of the chestnut troop, were transferred to the 
others ; the horses thus became mixed, and they 
have since been trooped without reference to colour. 
The reduced establishment was 27 officers, 24 
Serjeants, 18 corporals, 6 trumpeters, 6 farriers, 
281 privates and 253 troop horses. In September 
the regiment was again inspected by Major- Gene- 
ral Sir Thomas Bradford ; and in a few days 
afterwards the head-quarters were removed to 
Glasgow, where five troops were stationed, and one 
troop was quartered at Hamilton. 

1822 On the lOtli of June, 1822, Major-General Sir 
Thomas Bradford again inspected the regiment, 
and expressed in strong terms his approbation of 
its appearance and discipline on this and the 
former occasion when he had seen the corps. 

In July the regiment marched to Port Patrick, 
where it embarked for Ireland ; and after landing 
at Donaghadee, the head-quarters were established 
at Dundalk, and detachments were stationed at 
Belturbet, Monaghan, Enniskillen, &c. : on the 
23rd of October it Avas inspected by Major-General 
Egerton. An alteration was this year made in 
the shape of the helmet ; and a large bear-skin 
crest was adopted. 

1823 The regiment marched from the northern dis- 
trict in June, 1823, for Dublin, where it was re- 
viewed on the 12th of that month by Major-General 



THE FOURTH DRAGOON GUARDS. 61 

Sir Colquhoun Grant, by whom its appearance and 1823 
discipline were commended. In a few days after 
this review it was removed to Newbridge, and was 
again inspected by the same officer in November 
following. 

In June, 1824, the regiment marched to the royal 1824 
barracks at Dublin, where it was inspected by 
Major-General Sir Colquhoun Grant on the 12tli 
of July; and again on the 14th of May, 1825. 1825 
In June it marched to Cahir, Limerick, Clogheen, 
and New Ross ; and on the 20th of October it 
was inspected by Major-General Sir Charles 
Doyle. 

From these quarters the regiment was with- 
drawn in March, 1826, and proceeding to Dublin, 1826 
was there once more inspected by Sir Colquhoun 
Grant, and afterwards embarked for Liverpool, 
where it landed on the 29th of March. On the 
31st it marched for Coventry, Birmingham, and 
Abergavenny; and in July was inspected by 
Major-General Sir Hussey Vivian. 

In consequence of serious riots having taken 
place at Dudley and Wolverhampton, two troops 
marched to these places in the beginning of August. 
Serious disturbances also occurred at Lichfield 
during the election in the early part of September, 
and much mischief would have been done, but 
was prevented by the timely arrival of a troop of 
the Fourth Dragoon Guards from Birmingham. 
The troops were obliged to act against the people 
on several occasions, and a few persons were 
wounded. 

On the 8th of January, 1827, this regiment, in 1827 
common with the other corps of the army, testified. 



62 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 

1827 by articles of mourning, the general grief on ac- 
count of the death of His Royal Highness the Duke 
of York, the Commander-in-Chief of the army. 
The decease of His Royal Highness occurred on 
the 7th of January, and the whole army had to 
deplore the loss of a Prince who had justly obtained 
the appellation of " The Soldiers' friend." He 
was succeeded in the command of the army by the 
Duke of Wellington. 

After the decease of Lieutenant-General Cart- 
wright, Lieutenant- General Sir Henry Fane, 
G.C.B., was removed to the First Dragoon Guards, 
and was succeeded in the Colonelcy of the Fourth 
Royal Irish Dragoon Guards by Lieutenant- 
General Sir George Anson, G.C.B., by commission 
dated the 27th of February, 1827. 

In April of this year the regiment marched to 
Dorchester, and occupied also Christchurch, Trow- 
bridge, and Dursley ; and was inspected on the 
29th of April by Major-General Sir Hussey 
Vivian. 

In consequence of the Dorchester barracks re- 
quiring repairs, two troops and the head-quarters 
marched to Weymouth on the 1st of June. On 
the 12th of July, Her Royal Highness the Duchess 
of Clarence (afterwards Queen Adelaide) arrived 
at Weymouth, and the Fourth Dragoon 
Guards had the honour of escorting Her Royal 
Highness into the town, and of mounting a guard 
of honour where she alighted. Her Royal High- 
ness left Weymouth on the following day with a 
similar escort. The regiment had also the honour 
of furnishing an escort for, and of receivings the 
Duke of Clarence (afterwards King William IV.) 



THE FOURTH DRAGOON GUARDS. 63 

when His Royal Highness passed through Dor- 1827 
Chester. 

On the 20th of August the regiment was again 
inspected by Major- General Sir Hussey Vivian ; 
and in October the head-quarters returned to Dor- 
chester. In December, it furnished an escort and 
a guard of honour for His Royal Highness Don 
Miguel of Portugal on his visiting Dorchester. 

The lace across the breast of the coats was this 
year discontinued, the coats were made to button 
in front without lace, and the skirts lengthened : 
four bars of lace were worn on the sleeve, and the 
facing was directed to be a blue velvet. The 
officers were ordered to wear two silver epaulettes 
and an aiguillette ; and the men brass scales on the 
shoulders. At the same time the men's girdles 
were discontinued, but the officers continued to 
wear a crimson and gold sash with long pendent 
tassels. In the following spring the colour of the 1828 
overalls was changed to dark blue, with a broad 
stripe of silver lace for the officers, and of white 
lace for the men. A blue great coat was also in- 
troduced for the officers ; and horse furniture* of 
dark blue cloth with a double row of broad silver 
lace, with the King's cypher, crown, and the star 
of St. Patrick on each corner : and a black bear- 
skin flounce. 

Sir Hussey Vivian inspected the regiment on 
the 13th of April, and repeated the expressions of 
approbation he had invariably used on former oc- 
casions, of its appearance and discipline. In May 

* Horse furniture was originally used by both officers and men 
of the resiraent, but it was discontinued in the early part of the 
reign of George III. 



64 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 

1 828 its quarters Avere changed to Exeter and Topsham 
barracks, with one troop at Dursley, and Sir Hussey 
Vivian made the autumnal half-yearly inspection 
on the 25th of August. During the summer the 
regiment had again the honour of furnishing tra- 
velling escorts for the Duchess of Clarence ; and in 
September for Her Majesty the Queen of Portugal. 

Gauntlet gloves were originally part of the 
equipment of every cavalry soldier ; but were re- 
placed by short gloves in the early part of the reign 
of George III. ; and in December of this year the 
short leather gloves were laid aside and gauntlets 
again adopted. 

1829 The regiment marched from its quarters in 
Devonshire and Gloucestershire in April, 1829, for 
the north of England, and occupied York, with 
detached troops at Beverley and Newcastle upon 
Tyne. In September, Sir Hussey Vivian again 

1830 inspected the regiment ; and in April, 1830, it 
marched for Scotland, and occupied quarters at 
Piershill barracks, Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Perth. 
It was inspected on the 31st of May by Major- 
General Sir Robert O'Callaghan, K.C.B. ; and on 
the 26th of June it was formed, with the remainder 
of the garrison, at the mound of Edinburgh Castle 
and fired a feu-de-joie, in consequence of the acces- 
sion of His Majesty King William IV. to the 
throne. 

Soon after His Majesty's accession orders were 
given for all the army, excepting the Royal Horse 
Guards, to wear scarlet ; also for all the regular 
forces to wear gold lace and embroidery, and the 
militia silver. The lace and embroidery of the 
Fourth Dragoon Guards, which had been 



THE FOURTH DRAGOON GUARDS. 65 

silver from the period of its formation, were at 1830 
this period changed to Gold. 

On the 27th of October the regiment was in- 
spected by Major-General the Honourable Patrick 
Stewart, who expressed himself in terms of ap- 
probation of its appearance and discipline. 

In April and May of the following year the troops 1831 
performed several marches and much extra duty in 
consequence of the riotous conduct of the people 
at the elections. Escorts were required for the 
voters, and so violent were the rioters, that one man 
was killed by a brick while proceeding to vote in 
charge of a party of the military. Many of the 
soldiers were knocked off their horses with stones, 
and others had their helmets broken ; yet such was 
the exemplary patience and forbearance of the 
soldiers of the Fourth Dragoon Guards, under 
these painful and trying circumstances, that not a 
single civilian was hurt by them during the whole 
period. During the riots at Ayr the prisoners in 
the gaol rose against the turnkeys, whom they over- 
powered ; but a few men of the Fourth Dragoon 
Guards arriving, they dismounted, entered the 
gaol with loaded carbines, secured the prisoners 
before they could effect their escape, and restored 
order. 

The usual half-yearly inspection was made by 
Major-General Hon. Patrick Stuart on the 16th of 
June ; and on the 8th of September the regiment, 
with the garrison at Edinburgh, assembled and 
fired aj^u-de-joie, on the occasion of the corona- 
tion of King William IV. and Queen Adelaide. 

A change of quarters took place towards the 
end of September^ and the regiment was stationed 

F 



66 . HISTORICAL RECORD OF 

1831 at Glasgow, Hamilton, and Haddington. It was 
inspected by Major-General Sir Charles Dalbiac, 
K.C.H.,on the 29th of September ; and its present 
commanding officer, Lieutenant-Colonel James 
Charles Chatterton was appointed to the regiment 
on the 9th of December, in succession to Lieut.- 
Colonel Ross, who exchanged to the half-pay. 

1832 In March, 1832, one troop of the regiment 
marched to Paisley to aid the civil power in sup- 
pressing the riots which had occurred in that town. 
On the 4th of April, the half-yearly inspection 
was made by Major-General the Honourable Pa- 
trick Stewart, and the regiment being on the eve 
of its departure for Ireland, the Major-General 
issued the following order. 

' Glasgow^ Uh April, 1832. 

'General Order. 

* On the departure of the Fourth Dragoon 
' Guards for Ireland, Major-General Stewart 

* takes the opportunity of expressing to the regi- 
' ment the great satisfaction its conduct has given 
' him during the period of upwards of a year and 
' a half that it has been under his command, and 
' during that time frequently under very trying 
' circumstances, when upon all occasions it has 
' evinced that steadiness, temper, and coolness, the 
' certain results of the high state of discipline 

* which the regiment has so eminently maintained. 

* The Major-General requests that Lieutenant- 
' Colonel Chatterton, the officers and men of the 
' Fourth Dragoon Guards, will accept his best 
' wishes for their future prosperity and welfare. 

' By Order of the Major-General, 

' P. Edwards, Major and A.D.C 



THE FOURTH DRAGOON GUARDS. 67 

The regiment embarked at Glasgow in steam- 1832 
vessels for Belfast, and, after landing, occupied quar- 
ters at Dundalk, Belturbet, Ballysliannon_, and 
Monaghan, On the 11th of May Major-General 
Macdonell made the usual half-yearly inspection. 

During the summer and autumn of this year, 
the election riots, and other disturbances which 
occurred in Ireland, occasioned the regiment much, 
harassing duty, detachments being almost con- 
stantly on the march to aid the civil power. 

On the 20th of September Lieut. -General Sir 
Hussey Vivian inspected the regiment, and com- 
plimented the officers and men very highly on 
their appearance after the harassing duties they 
had lately performed. On the 7th of October the 
regiment was again inspected by Major-General 
Macdonell. 

Ireland continued in a disturbed state, and 
during the autumn and winter the regiment was 
employed in most fatiguing and painful services. 
In one month the regiment furnished fifty-one 
parties to assist the civil power in making tithe- 
collections, quelling riots at fairs, dispersing illegal 
meetings, or suppressing election riots ; and each 
of these parties was under the command of one or 
more officers. 

In the spring of 1833 the head-quarters were 1833 
removed to Cahir, and the regiment occupied also 
Limerick, Clonmell, and Carrick-on-Suir ; and on 
the 16th of April Lieut. -Colonel Chatterton had 
the satisfaction to receive a letter from Major- 
General Macdonell, expressing ' his perfect appro- 
' bation of the exemplary and excellent conduct of 

F 2 



68 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 

1833 ' the regiment during its service in the northern 
* district.' 

The half-yearly inspection was made by Major- 
General Sir James Douglas in the beginning of 
June. In September a squadron was employed 
in suppressing the riots at Cahir races, where two 
violent parties attacked each other, and the Dra- 
goon Guards separated the combatants ; but un- 
fortunately several lives had been lost, and many of 
the peasantry dangerously wounded. 

On the departure of the Marquis of Anglesey 
from Ireland the following order was issued. 

' Adjutant- General's Office, 
' 26th September, 1833. 

' General Order. 

' Lieut.-General Sir Hussey Vivian has the 
' greatest satisfaction in publishing to the troops in 
' Ireland the accompanying expression of the 
' Lord Lieutenant's approbation of their conduct 
' and services, on the occasion of his Excellency's 
* departure from this country. 

' The Lord Lieutenant cannot quit these 
' shores without reiterating to the army of Ireland 
' the hiffh sense he entertains of its admirable and 

o 

' truly soldier-like conduct. 

' To the Lieut.-General commanding the forces 

' he need hardly express his approbation and 

' esteem, a feeling won for him by forty years' 

' knowledge of his excellent qualities as a soldier 

and a man. 

' Of the zeal, intelligence, and assiduity of the 

general officers and staff of the army he cannot 



THE FOURTH DRAGOON GUARDS. 69 

' speak in terms of too high praise. He desires 1833 
' that the officers, non-commissioned officers, and 
' soldiers, as well of the army now present, as of 
' those corps which have served here during the 
' government of the Lord Lieutenant, will be 
' assured he feels he cannot too highly appreciate 
' and applaud their excellent conduct. 

'Their patience, firmness, and forbearance 
' (under circumstances that it may reasonably be 
' hoped will never occur again), while they have 
' salutarily supported the administration of the 
' laws, have, with their mild demeanour, won the 
' approbation and applause of all parties. 

(Signed) ' Anglesey. 

' Phoenix Park, 2bth September, 1833. 
' By command of the Lieut. -General Commanding, 
' George D'Aguilar, D.A.G.' 

Major-General Sir James Douglas inspected 
the regiment on the 11th of October. 

On the 27th of April, 1834, the following 1834 
gratifying address was presented to Lieut.-Colonel 
Chatterton, K.H., and the assembled Officers of 
the regiment, by James Archer Butler, Esq., 
attended by a large deputation of the gentlemen 
of the town and neighbourhood of Cahir. 

' At a meeting of the inhabitants of the town 
' and neighbourhood of Cahir, held at Cahir 
' Castle Hotel on the 27th of April, 1834 ; James 
' Archer Butler, Esq., in the Chair, the following 
' address to Lieut.-Colonel Chatterton, K.H., the 
' officers, non-commissioned officers, and privates 
* of the Fourth Royal Irish Dragoon 
' Guards, was unanimously agreed to. 



70 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 

1834 ' Whilst we consider your departure from 
' Cahir barracks with unfeigned regret, permit us 
' to express our high admiration of the gentle- 
' manly and soldier-like conduct of every officer in 
' your gallant corps. Of the non-commissioned 
' officers and privates we feel the utmost pleasure 
' in bearing testimony to their orderly conduct, 
' evidently the result of inclination as well as of 
' the high state of discipline, and the good feeling 
' which so happily subsisted between them and the 
' inhabitants of every class during their stay in 
' these quarters. 

' When we recollect the unexampled exertion 
' of yourself and the officers to promote the amuse- 
' ment and good fellowship of this neighbourhood 
' (which it fell to the lot of most of us to enjoy), it 
' is but natural that your removal should cause 
' pain and sorrow ; but we have the consoling hope 
' that events may occur to cause your speedy 
' return to these barracks, 

' In taking leave of you, Lieut. -Colonel Chatter- 
' ton, the officers, non-commissioned officers, and 
' men of the truly distinguished Fourth Royal 
* Irish Dragoon Guards, we wish you, in the 
' sincerity of our hearts, every happiness and pros- 
' perity. (Signed) 

' James Archer Butler, Chairman. 

' To Lieut. -Colonel Chatterton, K.H., 
Sfc. Sfc. c*yc.' 

The regiment marched from Cahir and the out- 
stations on the 28th and 29th of April, and pro- 
ceeded to Cork, where tlie head-quarters were 
established with detached parties at Ballincorrig 



THE FOURTH DRAGOON GUARDS. 71 

and Buttevant ; and on the 4th of May a commu- 1834 
nication was received from Major-General Sir 
James Douglas, K.C.B., expressing his ' perfect 
' satisfaction at the conduct and high state of dis- 
' cipline of the regiment whilst under his orders in 
' the South-western district.' 

On the 23rd and 24th of May, the regiment was 
inspected by Major-General Sir Thomas Ar- 
buthnot, K.C.B., and again, by the same officer, 
on the 22nd of October ; also by Lieut. -General 
Sir Hussey Vivian, K.C.B., on the 3rd of the 
latter month. 

The lawless resistance of the peasantry to the 
collection of tithes gave rise to additional duty 
during the autumn and winter of this year ; and 
their violent conduct brought on collisions, which 
had the painful result of producing loss of life. 
Several persons were wounded at Ballincorrig on 
the 18th of December. On the 20th a large and 
tumultuous assembly of the peasantry at Gortroe, 
near Rathcormac, showed much obstinacy and 
lawless violence, attacking the military with sticks 
and stones, and were fired upon, when ten were 
killed and several wounded. The greatest excite- 
ment prevailed, and the military were obliged to 
assemble again on the 21st of December, and for 
several days afterwards. 

This year a new-pattern brass helmet with bear 
skin crest was adopted, and the trumpeters' clothing 
was directed to be Scarlet, distinguished by lace. 

The elections which took place in January, 1835 
1835, occasioned the regiment much extra duty 
and many harassing marches ; and its conduct^ with 



7'^ HISTORICAL RECORD OF 

1835 that of the other regiments in Ireland, elicited the 
following communications. 

' DISTRICT MEMORANDUM. 

' Adjutant- General's Office, 

' Cork, 30th January, 1835. 

' The Major-General is most happy to notify to 
' the commandants of corps, that it appears from 
' communications which he has received from the 
' magistrates of this district, that the conduct of 
' the detachments called out in aid of the civil 
' power during the late elections, was, without ex- 
' ception, remarkably good. That the troops, to 
' their praise he it said, never entered into party 
' spirit on one side or the other, and that they 
' never were employed except to protect the voters, 
' and acting under the magistrates for the preser- 

* vation of the peace. 

(Signed) 'Charles Turner, 

' Asst. Adjutant General.' 

' Adjutant- General's Office, 

' Dublin, 30th January, 1835. 

* General Order. 

' Lieut-General Sir Hussey Vivian experiences 
' the greatest gratification in communicating to the 
' troops serving in Ireland the subjoined letter, 
' received from His Excellency the Lord-Lieu- 
' tenant, expressive of His Excellency's approba- 
' tion of their conduct during the late elections. 

' To a testimony so valuable, and emanating 

* from so high a quarter, the Lieut. -General feels 
' that any addition on his part must be quite unne- 

* cessary ; but he cannot refuse himself tlie satis- 
' faction of uniting with it his own individual 



THE FOURTH DRAGOON GUARDS. 73 

' acknowledgments to the general officers and men 1835 
' serving under his orders, and of congratulating 
' them on the possession of a tribute so honourable 
' to themselves, and so calculated to confirm their 
' zeal in the service of their King and Country.' 
' By command of the Lieut. -General commanding, 
(Signed) ' G. D'Aguilar, D.A.G.' 

' Dublin, 30th January, 1835. 
* Sir,- — The elections being now over, and the 

* service on which so many of the troops under 
' your command have been for some weeks past 
' engaged being now nearly at an end, I feel 
' myself called upon to express to you the high 
' sense I entertain of the admirable conduct of 
' both officers and men, while employed in the 
' performance of a duty in its very nature harass- 
' ing and unpleasant. 

' According to all the reports which have been 
' under my cognizance, nothing could have ex- 
' ceeded their coolness, patience, and forbearance. 

' Their presence in aid of the police and civil 
' power (whose conduct is also above all praise) 
' generally insured the peace, where, but for their 

* presence, tumult would have occurred ; and on 
' the few occasions on which they were called upon 
' to act, they did so, strictly, in self-defence, and 
' not till they had been themselves assailed, and in 
' many instances severely injured. 

' I have to beg you will convey to them my best 
' acknowledgments, and the assurance that I will, 
' without loss of time, lay before His Majesty 
' their claims to His Royal approbation. 

' I cannot conclude this letter without offering 



74 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 

1835 * you my best thanks for the readiness with which 
' you have attended to every call made upon you, 
* for your judicious arrangements of the force 
' under your command, and for the zeal, prompti- 
' tude, and ability by which your conduct has 
' been distinguished. 

* The same thanks are due to the general com- 
' manding the garrison of Dublin, and to the gene- 
' ral and superior officers in the different military 
' divisions, for the able manner in which their duty 
' was performed, whether in giving orders upon 
' the spot when called upon by the civil power for 
' protection, or in obeying the orders they received 
' from head- quarters. 

' I am, &c., 
(Signed) ' Haddington. 

' To Lieut.- General the Right Honourable 
' Sir Hussey Vivian, 8fc. 8fc. 8fc.^ 

The regiment having completed three years' 
service in Ireland, embarked at Cork on board of 
steam-vessels in May, 1835, for Bristol, from 
whence it marched to Brighton, with detached 
troops at Canterbury, Chichester, and Horsham; 
and relieved the Grenadier Guards in the duty at 
the Royal Pavilion. 

In July the regiment was inspected by Major- 
General Sir Charles Dalbiac, who expressed him- 
self much pleased with its steadiness and disci- 
pline ; and on the 10th of August it was inspected 
by Lieut. -General Lord Hill, the General Com- 
manding-in- Chief, who was pleased to direct Lieut. - 
Colonel Chatterton to issue an order, stating that 
' the appearance of the men and horses, and the 



THE FOURTH DRAGOON GUARDS. 



75 



* discipline and interior economy of the regiment 1835 
' were such as to merit his fullest approbation ; and 
' that the squadron he had lately inspected at 
' Canterbury was also in the most perfect order.' 

A riotous assemblage of people having taken 
place at Steyning in opposition to the poor-laws, 
one troop marched thither on the 11th of Septem- 
ber, and its timely arrival rescued the magistrates 
and relieving officer from a situation of very great 
danger. A troop also marched to Horsham for a 
similar purpose on the 15th of September; and 
another troop from Canterbury to Bath on the 20th 
of October. 

The Colonel of the Fourth Dragoon Guards 
Lieut.-General Sir George Anson, G.C.B., in- 
spected the regiment on the 26th of October, and 
directed the following paragraph to be inserted in 
the orderly books. 

'Lieut.-General Sir George Anson has the 
' greatest satisfaction in expressing his entire 
' approbation of the general appearance of his 
' regiment, and of the zeal and attention mani- 
' fested by all ranks to good order and discipline.' 

Their Majesties King William IV. and Queen 
Adelaide having arrived at the Royal Pavilion, the 
Fourth Dragoon Guards had the honour of 
being on the King's duty for the first time since 
the reign of William III. His Majesty heard the 
records of the regiment read in the early part of 
November, and expressed great interest and grati- 
fication at hearing their contents. 

In December a detachment of the regiment was 
employed in aiding the civil power at Horsham ; 
and a letter of thanks was received from the Duke 



76 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 

1835 of Richmond and magistrates assembled at that 
town, ' for the conduct of the detachment of the 
' regiment there when called upon to assist the 
' civil power, as well as for their excellent beha- 
' viour since quartered in that town.' 

On the 17th of December Colonel Lord Frede- 
ric Fitz-Clarence, with a number of noblemen and 
general officers from the Pavilion, saw the regi- 

1836 ment ; and on the 27th of January, 1836, it was 
inspected by His Serene Highness Prince Ernest 
of Hesse Phillipstal, who was pleased to say to 
Lieutenant-Colonel Chatterton — * I have heard 
' from every quarter the greatest praise of your 
' regiment, but what I have seen has surpassed 
' my utmost expectation, and I shall not fail to 
' mention to His Majesty the pleasure I have ex- 
' perienced in seeing so fine a corps.' His Majesty 
was afterwards pleased to express his royal satis- 
faction at what Prince Ernest had reported ; and 
also his approbation, and that of the Queen, at the 
excellent performance of the band at all times when 
playing at the Pavilion ; and at the good conduct 
of the regiment during their Majesties' sojourn at 
Brighton. 

A change of quarters took place in May, and 
the regiment was stationed at Dorchester, Trow- 
bridge, and Weymouth, and was inspected on the 
11 th and 12th of July by Major-General Sir 
Charles Dalbiac. 

1837 During the following summer the regiment 
marched for Manchester, and was stationed at 
Hulme barracks ; and on the 29th of May took 
part in a grand procession and spectacle at Man- 
chester in honour of His Majesty's birth-day. 



THE FOURTH DRAGOON GUARDS. 



77 



The decease of King William IV. having 
taken place on the 20th of June, the Fourth 
Dragoon Guards, 48th regiment, and artillery, 
took part in a grand procession on the 23rd of that 
month, at Manchester, on the occasion of the procla- 
mation of the accession of Her Majesty Queen 
Victoria to the throne. On the following day 
the regiment assumed the usual mourning for His 
late Majesty. 

In July the regiment marched out of Manches- 
ter, during the election, and on two or three 
occasions the troops were called upon to assist the 
civil power at Salford, and also at Prescot ; and on 
the 26th of July a subaltern and 20 men marched 
to Bury on a similar duty. On the 9th of August 
the regiment returned to Hulme barracks, and 
on the 10th and 11th was inspected by Major- 
General Sir Charles Dalbiac. 

After the termination of the elections the fol- 
lowing communication from Lord John Russell to 
the general commanding-in-chief was communi- 
cated to the regiment by Major-General Sir Richard 
Jackson. 

• My Lord, 

'I have received the Queen's commands to 
'signify to your Lordship Her Majesty's entire ap- 
' proval of the conduct of the military employed 

* during the elections in England and Wales, 
' where their assistance has been called for by the 
'magistrates for the preservation of the public 
' peace ; and to desire your Lordship will commu- 
' nicate to the military, whose services have been 
' so required, Her Majesty's gracious approval of 

* their conduct.' 



78 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 

1837 On the 4th of October Major-General Sir 
Ricliard Jackson, K.C.B., inspected the regiment. 
In December detachments were employed in sup- 
porting the civil power at Halifax and Bradford 
against persons resisting the poor-laws. 

1838 The regiment took part, with the royal artillery, 
98th foot, and magistrates, clergy, &c., in a 
solemn procession in honour of Her Majesty's 
birth-day at Manchester on the 17th of May. 
During the following month it marched to the 
vicinity of London, and was quartered at Islington 
and Clerkenwell ; and on the 28th of June two 
squadrons occupied stations near Westminster 
Abbey during the ceremonial of Her Majesty's 
coronation. 

On the Sth of July the regiment took the 
Queen's Guard at the Horse Guards ; and on the 
following day furnished two squadrons to keep 
the ground in Hyde Park during the time the 
Household Cavalry Brigade, Tenth Royal Hussars, 
Twelfth Royal Lancers, three troops of Royal 
Horse Artillery, three batteries of Field Artillery, 
four battalions of Foot Guards, and two battalions 
of the Rifle Brigade, commanded by General the 
Marquis of Anglesea, K.G. and G.C.B., were re- 
viewed by Her Majesty. A letter was afterwards 
received from Lieutenant- Genera] Sir Willoughby 
Gordon, G.C.B., Quartermaster-General, expres- 
sive of his ' perfect satisfaction at the very atten- 
' tive and soldierlike conduct of, and the great 
' assistance afforded by, the detachment of the regi- 
' ment, whilst keeping the ground in Hyde Park.' 

After the review, the regiment marched to 
Ipswich and Norwich, where it was inspected by 



THE FOURTH DRAGOON GUARDS. 79 

Major-General Sir Charles Dalbiac, K.C.H., on 1838 
the 23rd. of July : the regiment had not been sta- 
tioned in the county of Suffolk since the year 1688. 

Her Majesty Queen Victoria was graciously 
pleased to approve of this regiment bearing on 
its standards and appointments the Harp and 
Crown, in addition to the Star of the most illus- 
trious Order of St. Patrick, with the motto Quis 
separahit ? as a national badge connected with its 
title of " Royal Irish Dragoon Guards." 

On the 24th September a detachment of the 
regiment marched from Norwich to Stanfield Hall, 
where its presence was required to assist the civil 
power in securing some persons who were illegally 
assembled, and who bade defiance to the magis- 
trates. After some resistance the rioters were 
secured, and eighty-four of them lodged in Nor- 
wich Jail. The Magistrates transmitted to the 
General Commanding in Chief a letter, explana- 
tory of the circumstances which had occasioned 
them to call for the aid of the troops, and expres- 
sive of their thanks for the promptitude with which 
assistance was granted, as well as for the steadi- 
ness and good conduct of the detachment, and for 
the valuable aid afforded by the officers and sol- 
diers. 

The Fourth Dragoon Guards, under a well- 
regulated system of discipline and the direction of 
intelligent officers, in whom the men have con- 
fidence, have evinced their usefulness to the country 
by their firm and temperate conduct on home 
duty, as well as by their bravery in the field when 
called upon to combat a foreign enemy. Instances 
frequently occur, in which the magistrates call for 



80 HISTORICAL RECORD, &C. 

1838 the aid of the military, without whose co-operation 
the civil police would sometimes be unequal to 
repress and control the violence of a lawless mob. 
On these occasions, the conduct of the troops has 
been such as to draw forth the commendations and 
thanks of the civil authorities, which have been 
communicated to the General Commanding in 
Chief, and by his authority signified in orders to 
the troops who have been so employed, and whose 
conduct has merited such commendations. 







-^^« 



j.sr'^' 



]P®lDmTM„ ©ir 1R®TAJ]. I[RiI§iR JIJ)MA(G(D)©rT (BHAIEIIDg 



SUCCESSION OF COLONELS 



FOURTH, OR ROYAL IRISH REGIMENT OF 
DRAGOON GUARDS. 



James Earl of Arran. 

Appointed '28th of July, 1685. 

The Earl of Arran was the eldest son of Lord William 
Douglas, a faithful supporter of the royal cause during 
the rebellion, who was created Earl of Selkirk by King 
Charles I. in 1646, and having married Anne Duchess of 
Hamilton, only surviving daughter of James first Duke 
of Hamilton, was, in consequence of a petition from the 
Duchess, created Duke of Hamilton for life by King 
Charles II. 

Shortly after the restoration the Earl of Arran ob- 
tained an appointment in the household of King Charles 
II.,* and after remaining some time at court, he was sent 
with a congratulatory communication to the French Mo- 
narch, and served two campaigns with the French army 
in the capacity of aide-de-camp to Louis XIV. In 1685, 
when the Earl of Argyle raised the standard of rebellion 
in Scotland, the Earl of Arran took an active part 
against the insurgents : he also raised a troop of horse 



* The Earl of Arran had not been long at court before an 
affair of gallantry involved him in a quarrel with Lord Mordaunt 
(afterwards the celebrated Earl of Peterborough), which pro- 
duced a meeting in Greenwich Park, when, after firing their 
pistols without effect, they engaged with swords ; Lord Mordaunt 
was wounded in the groin, and the Earl of Arran in the thigh, 
when the former accidentally broke his sword, which terminated 
the contest. 



82 SUCCESSION OF COLONELS. 

for the service of King James II., who appointed him 
Colonel of the Sixth Regiment of Horse, now Fourth, 
OR Royal Irish Dragoon Guards. He was nominated 
a Knight Companion of the Thistle, on the revival of 
that Order in 1687, and in the following year he was 
promoted to the rank of Brigadier-General, and appointed 
Colonel of the Royal Regiment of Horse Guards. At 
the Revolution his conduct was remarkable for the un- 
shaken fidelity which he evinced to his sovereign under 
all circumstances. When he could no longer serve the 
King in a military capacity, he performed his duty as 
gentleman of the bed-chamber, and attended His Majesty 
from the time of his departure from London to the mo- 
ment of his embarkation at Rochester ; and at the meet- 
ing of the Scottish nobility and gentry in London, in 
January, 1689, at which the duke, his father, presided, 
he expressed himself in reply to the request of the Prince 
of Orange for advice : — ' The surest way to heal the 
' breach is to address His Majesty to return from France, 
' and call a free parliament. I can distinguish between 
' his popery and his person : I dislike the one ; but I 
' have sworn, and do owe, allegiance to the other.' He 
had previously been removed from his regiment by the 
Prince of Orange. 

During the hostilities which followed the accession of 
William and Mary, the Earl of Arran did not appear 
in arms in favour of King James; but he was suspected 
of corresponding with the court of France, and was twice 
committed a prisoner to the Tower of London : he was, 
however, discharged without being brought to trial. After 
the decease of his father the dukedom of Hamilton re- 
verted to his mother, in whom it was hereditary; but 
she resigned that honour in favour of his lordship, who 
was created Duke of Hamilton, by patent, dated the 
10th of August, 1698. His grace adhered, privately, 
to the interest of King James and the Pretender, until 
his decease, which was tragical, being killed in a duel 
with Lord Mohun, who was also slain at the same time 
in Hyde Park, on the 15th of November, 1712. 



succession of colonels. 83 

Charles Earl of Selkirk. 

Appointed 20th November, 1688. 

Lord Charles Hamilton^ third son of William Duke 
of Hamilton, entered the Life Guards in the year 1686, 
and obtained the appointment of Guidon and Major in 
the fourth troop. He was advanced to the peerage by 
the title of Earl of Selkirk, on his father's resignation 
of that honour, in October, 1688 ; and adhering to King 
James II. at the Revolution, was promoted to the Colo- 
nelcy of the Sixth Horse, in succession to his brother the 
Earl of Arran ; but was removed from his regiment by 
the Prince of Orange, in December of the same year. 
The Earl of Selkirk subsequently entered warmly 
into the protestant interest, and held civil appointments 
under the crown in the reigns of William III., George I., 
and George II. ; and died on the 13th of March, 1739. 

Charles Godfrey. 

Appointed Slst December, 1688. 

When the army was augmented in 1678, in the expec- 
tation of a war with France, Charles Godfrey, Esq., 
obtained a commission in the Duke of Monmouth's Regi- 
ment of Horse, which was disbanded in the following 
year. He appears not to have held any military ap- 
pointment from that period until the revolution in 1688, 
when, being a strenuous advocate of the protestant cause, 
he obtained, through the interest of John Lord Churchill, 
the Colonelcy of the Sixth Horse.* After the Earl of 
Marlborough had been sent prisoner to the Tower of 
London, on a charge of treason. Colonel Godfrey was 
removed from his command ; and he did not afterwards 



* Charles Godfrey, Esq., was brother-in-law to John 
Lord Churchill (afterwards Duke of Marlborough), having mar- 
ried Miss Arabella Churchill, mistress of King James II., and 
mother of James Duke of Berwick, one of the most successful 
and distinguished generals of his age, who rose to the rank of 
Marshal of France, and obtained a dukedom in Spain, and another 
in. France. 

G 2 



84 SUCCESSION OF COLONELS, 

serve in a military capacity. He was many years Master 
of the Jewel House, and a Member of Parliament in the 
reign of Queen Anne; and died in 1715. 

Francis Langston. 

Appointed 7th March, 1693. 

This officer served under his brother, Captain Thomas 
Langston, who commanded a troop of horse at Tangier 
in Africa, and signalized himself against the Moors. 
When the troops of Tangier Horse were constituted 
Royal Dragoons, in 1683, Francis Langston obtained 
a commission in that corps, and he served in the Royal 
Regiment of Dragoons until December, 1688, when 
the Prince of Orange promoted him to the Lieutenant- 
Colonelcy of the Eighth, or Princess Anne's Regiment 
of Horse, of which his brother was appointed Colonel. 
He proceeded with his regiment to Ireland in the same 
year ; and his brother Thomas dying in that country, he 
was appointed to succeed him in the Colonelcy of the 
Eighth Horse. He served at the head of his regiment at 
the battles of the Boyne and Aghrim, and in numerous 
skirmishes, until the final reduction of Ireland under the 
dominion of William III. His services were immediately 
afterwards transferred to the Netherlands ; and his regi- 
ment having suffered severely, from having been long 
exposed to a furious cannonade at the battle of Steenkirk, 
it was disbanded, and Colonel Langston was appointed 
to the command of the Fifth Horse, now Fourth 
Dragoon Guards. At the battle of Landen this officer 
highly distinguished himself at the head of the right 
squadron of his regiment, and was wounded and taken 
prisoner. He was promoted to the rank of Brigadier- 
General on the 1st of June, 1697; and proceeding, after 
the peace of Ryswick, with his regiment to Ireland, he 
was placed on the staff of the army in that country. 

During the wars in the reign of Queen Anne this officer 
was not employed on foreign service, but was continued 
on the staff of Ireland. He was promoted to the rank of 



SUCCESSION OF COLONELS. 85 

Major- General on the 1st of June^, 1703, and to that of 
Lieutenant- General on the 1st of June, 1704. 

When the great Duke of Marlborough was removed 
from his military commands. Lieutenant- General Lang- 
ston appears to have been considered too firmly devoted 
to the protestant cause, and to the succession of the House 
of Hanover, for the new ministry to confide in him, and 
he retired from the army. This veteran died on the 6th 
of April, 1723. 

George Jocelyn. 
Appointed 20th October, 1713. 

This officer obtained the commission of Cornet in the 
Queen Dowager s Regiment of Horse, commanded by 
George Viscount Hewyt (now Sixth Dragoon Guards) 
in 1689, and served at the battle of the Boyne under 
King WiUiam in. On the 5th of May, 1690, he was 
engaged in a gallant aifair with the enemy near Castle 
Cuff, and was wounded.* He also served at the battle 
of Aghrim, and siege of Limerick ; and in 1693 at the 
hard- contested battle of Landen. After the peace of 
Ryswick he entered the corps of Life Guards, and rose to 
the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel of the Second Troop (now 
Second Regiment), commanded by the Duke of Ormond. 
On the 29th of May, 1706, he obtained the rank of Colo- 
nel in the army, and on the 12th of February, 1711, that 
of Brigadier- General. After the Duke of Ormond was 
promoted to the elevated station of Captain- General 
of the Forces, Brigadier-General Jocelyn obtained the 
Colonelcy of the Fifth Horse; and when his Grace 
was removed from the command of the army by King 
George I., this officer obtained permission to dispose of his 
appointment : he died on the 9th of November, 1727. 



* A detailed account of this action is given in the Record of 
the 6th Dragoon Guards ; and also in the Record of the Fifth 
Foot. 



86 succession of colonels. 

Sherrington Davenport. 

Appointed 9th February, 1715. 

Sherrington Davenport was appointed Adjutant of 
the Queen Dowager's Regiment of Horse in 1687 ; and 
after serving at the battles of the Boyne and Aghrim, 
and at both sieges of Limerick, in Ireland ; and at the 
battle of Landen, and covering the siege of Namur in the 
Netherlands, he was promoted to the Majority of the 
regiment on the 13th of August, 1696. He subsequently 
obtained a commission in the First Troop (now First 
Regiment) of Life Guards, in which corps he obtained 
the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. He was appointed 
Brigadier-General in 1707, and Major-General in 1710; 
and being firmly devoted to the protestant interest, he 
was permitted, soon after the arrival of King George I. 
from Hanover, to purchase the Colonelcy of the Fifth 
Horse, which he retained until his decease on the 2nd 
of July, 1719. 

Owen Wynne. 

Appointed 6th July, 1719. 

Owen Wynne entered the army on the 8th of March, 
1688. After the Revolution he proceeded to Ireland, of 
which country he was a native, and he was engaged with 
the Enniskillen men in their determined resistance to the 
power of King James II. When the Enniskillen bands 
were incorporated into regiments, he obtained a commis- 
sion in Wynne's (afterwards Fifth or Royal Irish) Dra- 
goons. With this corps he served in numerous skirmishes 
and engagements until after the reduction of the whole of 
Ireland under the power of King William III. He also 
served under the King in Flanders, and was appointed 
Lieutenant-Colonel of the regiment on the 20th of July, 
1695. He was promoted to the rank of Colonel in 1703, 
and was commissioned, in 1705, to raise and discipline a 
regiment of foot, of which he was appointed Colonel. In 



SUCCESSION OF COLONELS, 87 

1706 he was promoted to the rank of Brigadier- General^ 
and on the ] st of January, 1709, to that of Major- General. 
His regiment of foot served the campaigns of 1710 and 

1711 under the great Duke of Marlborough, and that of 

1712 under the Duke of Ormond, and was disbanded 
after the conclusion of the peace of Utrecht; but in 1715, 
when Jacobite principles had become so prevalent in the 
nation that an insurrection was expected, a regiment of 
dragoons (now the Ninth Lancers) was raised, of which 
Major-General Owen Wynne was appointed Colonel ; 
and he was instrumental in suppressing the rebellion 
which broke out in the autumn of that year in favour of 
the Pretender. In 1719 he was removed to the Colo- 
nelcy of the Fifth Horse; and on the 10th of March, 
1 726, he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-General. 
He was removed to the Colonelcy of the Royal Irish 
Dragoons, in which corps he had performed his early 
services, in August, 1732 ; and he held the command of 
that regiment until his decease on the 28th of February, 
1737. 

Thomas Pearce. 
Appointed 27th September, 1732. 

Thomas Pearce, choosing the profession of arms, ob- 
tained the commission of Ensign on the 28th of February, 
1689, and after serving three campaigns in the Nether- 
lands, he was appointed Captain of the Grenadier com- 
pany in the Second Foot Guards in October, 1694. In 
the following summer he served at the siege of Namur, 
and was engaged on the night of the Sthof July in storm- 
ing the covered way, when, led by his innate ardour, he 
advanced too far in front of his men, and was wounded 
and taken prisoner. He served in the expedition to Cadiz 
in 1702, and commanded the first division of Grenadiers, 
which effected a landing between Rota and Fort St. Ca- 
therine. Himself and eight men only had landed, when 
they were charged by a . troop of Spanish horse. The 



88 SUCCESSION OF COLONELS. 

grenadiers fought manfully, slew the Spanish command- 
ing officer and five men, took two officers prisoners, and 
forced the remainder to retreat : he afterwards summoned 
the Fort of St. Catherine, which surrendered : he also 
commanded a party of grenadiers at the storming of the 
Forts of Vigo, and was wounded. His gallantry was 
rewarded, in April of the following year, with the Colo- 
nelcy of a newly-raised regiment of foot, from which he 
was removed in February, 1704, to an older corps — now 
the Fifth or Northumberland Fusiliers. In 1707, he 
proceeded with his regiment to Portugal; and in 1709 
highly distinguished himself at the head of a brigade of 
infantry at the battle of the Caya, where he was taken 
prisoner. After being exchanged he was promoted to the 
rank of Major-General, and returning to Portugal, com- 
manded a brigade in that country until the peace of 
Utrecht. On the 5th of March, 1727, he was promoted 
to the rank of Lieutenant-General, and in 1732 he was 
removed to the Fifth Horse. He was a member of 
Parliament for Melcombe Regis, and died in 1739. 



James Lord Tyrawley. 
Appointed l^th August, 1739. 

The Hon. James O'Hara was appointed Lieutenant in 
the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, commanded by his 
father, on the 15th of March, 1703 ; and in 1706 he pro- 
ceeded with his regiment to the relief of Barcelona. In 
the following year he served on the staff of the army in 
Spain, and was wounded at the battle of Almanza, where, 
it is said, he was instrumental in saving the Earl of Gal- 
way's life. He served several years at Minorca ; and in 
1713 obtained the Colonelcy of the Royal Fusiliers, in 
succession to his father, at whose decease, in 1733, he 
succeeded to the dignity of Baron Tyrawley. The 
rank of Brigadier- General was conferred on his lordship 
on the 23rd of November, 1735; that of Major-General 
on the 2nd of July, 1739; and in August of the latter 



SUCCESSION OF COLONELS. bV 

year, he was removed from the Royal Fusiliers to the 
Fifth Horse. In March, 1743, he was promoted to 
the rank of Lieutenant-General ; and in the following 
month obtained the Colonelcy of the Second Troop of 
Horse Grenadier Guards, from which he was removed, 
in 1745, to the Third Troop of Life Guards, which gave 
him the privilege of taking the court duty of gold stick. 
In 1746, when King George H. had resolved to disband 
the Third and Fourth Troops of Life Guards, his lord- 
ship was removed to the Tenth Foot ; he was again re- 
moved, in 1749, to the Fourteenth Dragoons; in 1752, 
to the Third Dragoons; and in 1755, to the Second, or 
Coldstream Regiment of Foot Guards. He was ap- 
pointed Governor of Portsmouth on the 1st of May, 1759, 
and was promoted to the rank of General on the 7th of 
March, 1761. He held the appointment of Governor of 
Minorca for several years ; was employed as Envoy and 
Ambassador to the courts of Portugal and Russia ; and 
died at Twickenham on the 13th of July, 1773. 



John Brown. 
Appointed 1st April, 1743. 

This officer entered the army as Cornet of horse on 
the 5th of August, 1704, and served several campaigns 
on the continent in the army commanded by John Duke 
of Marlborough. In 1735 he was Lieutenant-Colonel of 
the Fourth Dragoons, from whence he was removed to 
the Lieutenant- Colonelcy of the King's Horse (now First 
Dragoon Guards); and on the 10th of May, 1742, he 
was appointed Colonel of the Ninth Dragoons. On the 
appointment of Lieutenant-General Lord Tyrawley to 
the Horse Grenadier Guards, the Colonelcy of the Fifth 
Horse was conferred on Colonel Brown, who was pro- 
moted to the rank of Major-General on the 26th of March, 
1754, and to that of Lieutenant-General on the 15th of 
January, 1758: he died in 1762. 



90 succession of colonels. 

James Johnston. 

Appointed 3rd August, 1762. 

James Johnston obtained a commission in the Royal 
Horse Guards, was at the battles of Dettingen and Fon- 
t.enoy, and was appointed Major of the regiment on the 
29th of November, 1 750. On the 17th of December, 1754, 
he was promoted to the Lieutenant-Colonelcy ; and he 
commanded the regiment at several engagements in Ger- 
many during the Seven-years' war. In 1762 he obtained 
the Colonelcy of the First Irish Horse, now Fourth 
Dragoon Guards ; was appointed Major- General on 
the 30th of April, 1770 ; and on the 27th of April, 1775, 
was removed to the Colonelcy of the 11th Dragoons. 
He was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant- General on 
the 29th of August, 1777; and was removed to the Scots 
Greys on the 4th of February, 1785, the Colonelcy of 
which regiment he retained until his decease on the 24th 
of December, 1795. 

James Johnston. 
Appointed 21th April, 1775. 

This officer was cousin to the previous Colonel of the 
same name. He obtained the commission of Cornet in the 
Thirteenth Dragoons on the 5th of October, 1736, and 
was removed to the Royal Dragoons in 1739, in which 
corps he rose to the rank of Major, and was promoted to 
the Lieutenant-Colonelcy of the Thirteenth Dragoons on 
the 2nd of December, 1754. In April, 1759, he was re- 
appointed to the First Royal Dragoons, and proceeding in 
command of the regiment to Germany, served in the bat- 
tles and skirmishes of that and the two succeeding cam- 
paigns under Ferdinand Duke of Brunswick. He particu- 
larly distinguished himself at the battle of Warbourg, and 
was wounded at the battle of Campen. In 1762 he was 
promoted to the local rank of Major- General in Germany ; 
and he commanded a brigade of cavalry during the cam- 



SUCCESSION OF COLONELS. 91 

paign of that year. He wa,s distinguished alike for the 
sterner miHtary virtues, — for a gentlemanly deportment, 
— and an amiable disposition, which procured him the 
esteem of all ranks ; and on the breaking up of the army 
on the continent he received a flattering mark of the ap- 
probation of the hereditary Prince of Brunswick,* — 
namely, a valuable gold snufF-box, embellished with highly- 
chased military trophies, accompanied by an autograph 
letter, of which the following is a copy : — 

" Munden, ce 17 de Nov. 1762. 
" Monsieur, 

" Vous m'obligerez sensiblement, en acceptant la babiole que 
je joins ici comme une marque de I'estime, et de la consideration 
parfaite que je vous porte, et comme un souvenir d'un ami qui 
jamais ne finera d'etre. 

" Monsieur, 
" Votre ires humble et tres devoue serviteur, 
" A Monsieur " Charles, Pr. Her. de B." 

" Le Col. Johnston." 

He was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of the island 
of Minorca in 1763, and was promoted to the rank of 
Major-General in 1770. In the following year this 
meritorious officer was rewarded with the Colonelcy of 
the Ninth Dragoons ; in 1774 he was constituted Governor 
of Quebec ; and in 1775 he obtained the Colonelcy of the 
First Irish Horse (now Fourth Dragoon Guards). 
Two years afterwards he was promoted to the rank of 
Lieuten ant- General ; in 1778 he was removed from the 
First Irish Horse to the Sixth Enniskillen Dragoons; 
and was further promoted to the rank of General in 1793 : 
he is stated to have been one of the most celebrated 
swordsmen of his time. The decease of this distinguished 
veteran occurred on the 13th of December, 1797^ at 
Hampton, from whence he was removed with great state 
for interment in Westminster Abbey on the 21st of that 
month. 



* His Highness was afterwards reigning Duke of Brunswick. 
He married the Princess Augusta, sister to King George ITI.; 
and died of wounds received at the battle of Jena in 1808. 



92 succession of colonels. 

George Warde. 

Appointed \st April, 1778. 

George Warde entered the army in the reign of George 
II. ; was appointed Captain in the Eleventh Dragoons in 
1748, and Major of the same corps in June, 1756. In 
1758 he obtained the Lieutenant-Colonelcy of the Fourth 
Dragoons, at the head of which corps he served many 
years, and brought it into so high a state of discipline, 
that, whenever King George III. reviewed the corps, he 
expressed his approbation of its excellent condition in the 
strongest terms. He was promoted to the rank of Colonel 
in the army in 1772, and in the succeeding year he ob- 
tained the Colonelcy of the Fourteenth Dragoons. The 
rank of Major-General was conferred on this officer in 
1777; he was promoted to the Colonelcy of the First 
Irish Horse (now Fourth Dragoon Guards) in the 
following year ; and was advanced to the rank of Lieu- 
ten ant- General in 1782. In 1792 he was appointed 
Commander-in-Chief in Ireland, and while in that coun- 
try he devoted much of his time to the bringing of 
his regiment, — the Fourth Royal Irish Dragoon 
Guards, — into a most perfect condition for active service. 
He possessed the soundest ideas of what cavalry ought to 
be ; he had an aversion to slow movements, and although 
nearly seventy years of age, he exercised his regiment 
five times a week, — often leading it across the country 
over hedge and ditch, to the astonishment of every one, 
He was promoted to the rank of General in 1796, and 
died on the 11th of March, 1803. He was celebrated 
for philanthropy, and was represented by historians as a 
man ' of inviolable, disinterested integrity, public and 
' private ; and the bestower of benefactions scarcely less 
' secret than extensive.' 



succession of colonels. 93 

Miles Staveley. 

Appointed I2th March, 1803. 

Miles Staveley obtained a Cornetcy in the Royal Horse 
Guards in January, 1759, and served with that regiment 
a period of forty years. His first essay in arms was 
during the Seven-years' war in Germany, where he served 
under Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick. He also served 
in Flanders under his Royal Highness the Duke of York; 
and was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in 
the Royal Hoi"se Guards on the 31st of December, 1794. 
During the following year he was promoted to the rank 
of Colonel in the army, and in 1798 to that of Major- 
General. In 1799 he obtained the Colonelcy of the 
Twenty-eighth, or Duke of York's own Regiment of 
Light Dragoons, which was disbanded at the peace of 
Amiens in 1802. In the following year he obtained the 
command of the Royal Irish Dragoon Guards ; was 
subsequently promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-General ; 
and died in Septenaber, 1814. 

Sir Henry Fane, G.C.B. 

Appointed Srd October, 1814. 

General Sir Henry Fane commenced his military 
career as Cornet in the Sixth Dragoon Guards in 1792; 
in 1794 he was appointed Captain-Lieutenant in the 
Royal Irish Dragoon Guards, with which corps he 
served ten years, and took an active part in Ireland 
during the rebellion in 1798. He was promoted to the 
rank of Lieutenant- Colonel in the regiment in 1797, and 
was removed to the First Dragoon Guards in 1 804. In 
1808 he proceeded with the army to Portugal, com- 
manded a brigade at the battle of Roleia on the 1 7th of 
August, and at Vimiera on the 21st of that month. He 
also commanded a brigade under Sir John Moore in 
Spain, and was engaged at the battle of Corunna. Re- 



94 SUCCESSION OF COLONELS. 

turning to Portugal, he commanded a brigade at the battle 
of Talavera on the 27th and 28th of July, 1809 ; was 
promoted to the rank of Major-General on the 25th of 
July, 1810 ; commanded a brigade at the battle of Vit- 
toria on the 21st of June, 1813, and at the battle of 
Orthes on the 27th of February, 1814; and these 
distinguished services have been rewarded with the 
Grand Cross of the Military Order of the Bath, and 
an honorary Cross with one clasp. He obtained the 
Colonelcy of the Royal Irish Dragoon Guards in 
October, 1814; was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant- 
General on the 1 2th of August, 1819; and was re- 
moved to the King's Dragoon Guards in 1827. On 
the 30th of January, 1835, he was appointed Com- 
mander-in-Chief in the East Indies, with the local rank 
of General ; in which rank he was included in the brevet 
promotion on the 10th of January, 1837- 

Sir George Anson, G.C.B. 
Appointed ^'ith February, 1827. 




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